The Dustbin
by LoneTaker
Summary: The actual professor that was supposed to teach in the academy before replaced by a mercenary, off all people. Now finding himself in the worst class of the Officer's Academy, comprised of the academy's worst students, as their sole Professor. Things cannot worse from there, right? Right?
1. Day 1: Tardy Sweep

**Hello, beautiful people that is my fanbase****!**

**This is LoneTaker, and against all dredges of sanity, I'm uploading a brand new fanfic into the Fire Emblem community!**

**Before we begin with anything, allow me to address a few things.**

**I got into the FE franchise ever since FE Awakening, and upon falling in love with its cast of colorful characters despite the admiringly bare-bones story, I got hooked.**

**Ever since, I've played Fates [Conquest] & [Birthright] (The [Revelations] DLC wasn't worth it at this point.), Shadows of Valentia, and the fic's main setting, Three Houses. **

**I would count Heroes, but I'm a filthy**** casual who's more invested in F/GO, and let's leave it at that.**

**So with my credentials of the games I've actually played (I've watched GreenScorpion64's entire LetsPlay of Blazing Sword, not played it myself.) out of the way, I'd like to introduce my brand-new brainchild ever since I've got and finished the damn game...**

* * *

**The Dustbin**

**Day 1: Tardy Sweep**

* * *

**22nd of the Great Tree Moon, Tuesday, ****Sunset**

* * *

A hooded man with a large backpack walks through a bustling village's dirt road, his steps slowly becoming a tumble, a sign that he was wary from his supposed-long journey.

"Umm, good sir?" The hooded man asked an elderly villager. "Does this place have an inn?"

"... Over there, I suppose." The elder replied. "But I reckon it's full house, since the Blade Breaker and his lot are here for the night."

The hooded man sighs out in response.

"How unfortunate."

The hooded man then walks around the old man, continuing down the road towards a nearby bustling tavern.

The hooded man opens the doors, tries to squeeze through the gap with his massive backpack being caught in the doors, before entering and finding himself right in front of a large gaggle of mercenaries (From the swords and packs around their waists) and the residents, clanking their mugs and toasting like no tomorrow.

"... Worth a shot." The hooded man spoke to himself in mild disappointment. "I'll see myself elsewhere-"

"Hey buddy!" One of the tipsy residents of the tavern cried out to the hooded man.

The hooded man sees a bearded man, grizzled, middle-aged, wearing bits and pieces of orange and silver armor plates, no doubt one of these Blade Breaker mercenaries, but unlike the others, he seemed to attract some sort of presence that commands a certain kind of authority.

Either that, or the hooded man was already getting wasted from the fumes alone.

"Hey hey hey hey..." One of the helmeted mercenaries spoke out in a drunken slur. "The capt'n is talking to ya-"

"I heard. I don't need to be spoken twice over."

The hooded man walks towards the bearded mercenary towards one of the tables with an open seat.

He sits down, sets down his backpack next to his seat, and faces the man.

"So..." The man spoke out. "... What brings you here?"

"When I heard the inn was full house, I thought I can find a roof over my head for a night before I continue onwards with my travels."

"Where to?"

"... Can't say." The hooded man replied. "Private matters."

"Aw c'mon." The man prodded. "Loosen up a little. It's not like we're getting any younger, amirite?"

"Sir, I'm 33." The hooded man replied. "I'm at the prime of my life and tomorrow is a big day for me."

"Then come on!"

The man takes out a bottle and two small tin cups.

"What do you say, Mr. Big Shot?" The man proposed. "Care for some shots?"

The hooded man looks around, seeing that the mercenaries and the villagers alike are waiting in anticipation.

"... I really don't have a choice in the matter, do I?"

"Eh, you can quit if you like-"

The hooded man snatches the bottle and tin, pours one for himself, and downs it in one gulp right before setting down the tin cup.

Everyone else in the tavern looks at the hooded man in silent awe.

"... Your move, old man."

* * *

**Roughly Several Shots Later...**

* * *

It was no contest.

The hooded man walks out of the tavern doors victorious, leaving the bearded mercenary behind in a wasted stupor.

The hooded man looks out at the sky, seeing that it's already turning dark.

"*sigh* Not my first time sleeping outside, but damn." The hooded man muttered out. "My tent had to rip just last night..."

He then walks by a brown-coated, wolfhound-like dog digging through the trash outside of the inn that he was supposed to stay at, at least, until he'd heard that it was full.

He then lets out a sigh, sets his backpack down onto the floor next to himself, and curls up against the tavern building to settle in for the night.

As the man lulled himself into slumber, he begins to recollect his past adventures.

A sea of emerald-green grass with gentle wind caressing his skin.

A snow-covered mountainside, the rocky crags sitting still in sentinel.

A world of golden sand, the sun's rays mercilessly beating down upon him.

The worlds that Fodlan is surrounded by, with no one but himself daring to venture towards it.

The hooded man was the only one that dared, and he became stronger for it-

The man's slumber was then interrupted by the sound of the stray dog's barking.

The man opens his eyes, to find himself surrounded by several men in pelts, all holding axes and swords with sneers on their faces.

"Oi little man." The roughneck sneered. "Hand over what you got there, and no one has to get hurt."

"... And what will you do with them?" The hooded man asked.

"Dunno. Sell it, keep it, pee in it, I honestly couldn't give a damn." The roughneck sneered as he fiddled with his blade. "But bossman told us to take whatever ain't nailed down while he and a few others raise hell around this damn place."

"Well, then with that, I now know the next course of my action."

The dog next to him pounces onto one of the roughnecks in front of him, snagging him by his leg with his maws.

"ARGH! WHAT THE BLOODY HELL!? GET IT OFF OF ME!"

The hooded man then gives the same roughneck a swift kick between the legs before swinging his massive backpack over his head, knocking him out before he makes a run for it.

"Wha-WHAT THE HELL!?" The other now-identified bandit cried out. "DON'T JUST STAND THERE! GET HIM!"

As the hooded man ran through the village being raided by the same bandits, with the mercenaries from the tavern fighting back against the oncoming horde of ne'er-do-wells, he evades a stray swing from an axe, grazing his hood.

The man keeps evading the axe's clumsy swings, with each arc edging closer to his face, until he finds his back against a dead end.

"Slippery dastard..." The bandit scowled. "DIE-"

The bandit's axe arm was then snagged by the same dog before, causing him to drop the weapon as he prioritized to get the dog off of him.

The hooded man picks up the axe, and swings the blunt end unto the bandit's head, knocking him out cold.

"... Good boy." The hooded man thanked the dog as he dropped the axe.

The dog barks in response.

"Now let's get the hell out of here before it gets really ugly."

The hooded man and his dog companion make a run towards the village outskirts, and sees the following.

A white-haired female youth in a black uniform with a red cape, fighting back against a few of the bandits with an axe, of all things, as vanguard.

A blond young man in the same black uniform but with a blue cape, driving back the coming horde of bandits with a lance with relative ease in tandem with the female.

A slightly-tanned young man also in the same black uniform but with a golden cape, supporting the other two youths from the rearguard with his archery.

The same man back he met back at the tavern, now on a white steed, assisting the youths in their defense with his lance atop from his mighty steed.

And finally, a dark-teal haired young woman in a piecemeal-looking black armor, leading the the three youths as she also cut the bandits down with her sword.

"OI!"

The hooded man turns his head, only to find soldiers.

"WAIT! WAIT! WAIT!" The hooded man cried out as he wildly waved his hands. "I'M NOT A BANDIT!"

He removes his hood, revealing a slightly-pale, but youthful-looking face with amber-red eyes and wild tuft of snow white hair cropped on top of his face.

"Oh, sorry." The soldier with the lance apologized. "And you are?"

"_Karna_." The white-haired man replied. "_Karna Yuga_? The applicant for the position for Professor to Garreg Mach?"

"Wait, you're the guy?" The other soldier cried out.

"Where the hell were you?" the soldier asked. "You were supposed to rendezvous with us as soon as you got here!"

"I dragged into a drinking game by some of the mercenaries that are fighting in the village right now, and your letter never specified the location now, didn't it!?" Karna cried out in annoyance.

"... We apologize, but right now, we bigger issues going on!"

Behind Karna, the same bandit that he whacked with his backpack jumped towards him with an axe over his head.

"GIVE ME THAT!"

Karna snatches a lance from the Church soldier's grip, right before skewering the bandit mid-jump with the spearhead, killing him dead as he threw off of the body with an overhead swing.

The other Church soldiers looked in silent awe as Karna handed the soldier's lance back.

"... Well what are you waiting for?" Karna spoke to the soldiers. "DO YOUR DAMN JOBS AND PROTECT ME!"

The soldier in the front then rallies his fellow men.

"Let's go!" The soldier cried out. "Hold them off until Captain Alois arrives with the reinforcements!"

With those words, the church soldiers charged towards the bandits, clashing blades with them as Karna and his companion ran towards the safety.

"... Damn, I forgot to ask them where I needed to go." Karna muttered to himself. "Well, we're going to have to wing it, my friend."

The dog barks in response.

"Alright." Karna replied. "Cover me!"

The two continued to run towards the foliage, evading bandits patrolling the area as he and the dog sought out for potential shelter to stay in until this whole chaos blows over.

After long minutes of running, the two find themselves in the clear, with the full moon staring directly in front of their faces.

"Alright..." Karna heaved out. "I... I think we're in the clear-"

The dog then begins barking towards the bushes behind him.

"... Oh damn." Karna cursed. "How the hell did you find us here!?"

The two hear a man's cackle, revealing himself to be the same bandit who got bitten by Karna's companion.

"Heh heh heh." The bandit cackled as he walked towards the two while drawing his sword. "I never forget a person's smell, let alone, a damn mutt's."

Karna grimaces as the dog growls at the bandit.

"That's why I'm bossman Kosta's number two!" The bandit cackled out. "They don't call me 'Bloodhound' Doug for nuthin'!"

In a moment of reluctance, Karna's right hand begins to emit a faint, purple wisp of flame.

"Now first, Imma kill the mutt for it did to mi leg, then, I'll take my sweet time guttin' ya, and maybe I'll let the crows feast on ya body." Doug threatened.

"And you know what I'll do, Mr. 'Bloodhound'?" Karna replied in a snide tone.

"Hit me with yer baggy again?" Doug taunted. "Ain't gonna work twice, buddy-ol' pal. I'm wearing protection."

**"Yes, that rusty pauldron that's over your crotch is going to protect your from my_ magic_."**

The violet wisp in Karna's hand becomes a cloud of _pulsating_ and _electrifying_ energy.

"Magic?" Doug spoke out in confusion. "Gotta kill ya before ya shoot!"

Doug then runs towards Karna, axe raised over his head and blade arcing towards the white-haired man's head.

Karna extends his hand out, ready to shoot.

... But not before the dog next to him pounces towards the bandit, maw wide open, teeth bared.

In that sudden turn of events, Karna misfires his magic, causing the three of them to be sent flying from the explosion of the magic's impact.

Karna opens his eyes mid-flight, only to find himself_ falling down_.

Made even worse, his backpack was acting as an anchor, pulling him down towards the bottom at an even quicker rate.

Karna tries to take off his backpack in hopes of lessening the coming impact.

But the only thing he feels is a blow to his head, right before his field of vision goes completely pitch-black.

His entire body goes ice-cold, as every fiber of his muscles are lessening in strength.

The moonlit nocturnal sky above shone into his waning vision, as the sounds of a distant struggle drew to a close.

Then, nothing.

* * *

_A field of burning sand._

_A sea of swaying grass._

_And a land of frozen rock._

_Karna has walked through these landscapes, both in real life, and in his dreams._

_"Odd, I always seem to find myself here."_

_He continues to wander aimlessly throughout these landscapes, without intention or purpose in mind._

_Karna simply enjoyed his aimless journey for the sake of it alone._

_For that was his sole pleasure in life._

**_IS THAT SO_**

_A booming voice echoes out throughout the world, stopping Karna in his tracks._

**_ARE YOU ENJOYING YOURSELF_**

_"I don't have to answer you if you're not here to face me, coward."_

**_SUIT YOURSELF_**

**_BUT ALWAYS KEEP ONE THING IN MIND_**

**_AS ALL GOOD THINGS_**

**_THIS WORLD_**

**_THIS PEACE_**

**_THIS PLEASURE_**

**_WILL COME TO AN END_**

**_FOR THAT IS FATE OF ALL THINGS CREATED_**

* * *

**23rd of the Great Tree Moon(?), Wednesday(?), Early Afternoon**

* * *

In a sudden shock of consciousness, Karna opens his eyes and sees the sunlight.

The same sunlight that begins to sear his face like fresh meat upon a pyre.

"AH! SUNLIGHT! NEED SHADE!"

He hastily throws his hood back onto his head, all the while scrambling about and flailing his whole body like that of a crying baby's.

"Haah... haah..." Karna heaved out. "Where the bloody hell am I!?"

Karna then finds himself sitting on a shallow stream, his black robes soaked to the brim, covered in loose reed, and his backpack missing.

"... No no no no no no nononononononononononoNONONONONONONONONONONONOOOOOOOOO!" Karna panicked. "MY APPLICATION FOR GARREG MACH WAS IN THERE-"

Next to him by the shore, he heard a familiar dog's bark.

He turns his head, to find the same wolfhound-like dog barking at him.

"... You again?" Karna sighed out. "Regardless, glad you're doing all right for yourself..."

He picks himself off of the damp stream and walks towards the shore.

"Ugh... how unfortunate." Karna muttered to himself. "First the inn was full, then a bandit attack, then I fall off a cliffside after a misfire from my magic, and now, I wake up, find myself drenched without my backpack..."

He looks down at the dog, now sitting and wagging its tail.

"... Damn, no one can get mad at that face." Karna remarked. "Come here, you."

He then pets the wolfhound as compensation for his streak of bad luck that he had since yesterday.

"... Ugh." Karna sighed out. "Now if only I knew where my backpack went-"

Something suddenly catches his eye.

A wooden fetish of a warrior with a winged helmet.

He immediately rushes back into the river to retrieve the fetish, only for another object, a bronze toy carved into a shape that of a man riding on horseback with a burlap thread at the front end was also bobbing down the river.

Karna catches the toy, and comes to a certain realization.

"... My backpack is further upstream, isn't it?"

The dog barks as it comes into the stream with a splash.

"Careful now." Karna warned the dog. "Water might get a little deep from here-ARGH!"

The hooded man finds himself mired deep into one of the trenches of the water, likely left from when a loose boulder was removed.

The dog smirks at Karna.

"Oh ha-ha, very funny." Karna dryly replied as he picked himself back up.

The two companions continue to traverse upstream, collecting every loose relic, artifact, souvenir, and whatever stand-out object that floated towards the two.

Eventually, Karna finds his giant backpack hanging from an uprooted tree's branch.

"At least the paper isn't soaked to the brim." Karna remarked as he took the slip of paper from his open backpack and into his pocket inside of his robe.

He then unhooks the backpack from the branch before moving back shore to refill it with the contents that he'd recovered from his trek.

"There we go..." Karna remarked as he closed his backpack before putting it back on. "How about we stick to dry land, little one?"

The dog replies by shaking its drenched body, scattering water everywhere.

"Couldn't agree more..." Karna replied.

The two then make their way towards back uphill where they were rudely dropped from, all in hopes that he wasn't late for his appointment.

* * *

**Several Hours of Trekking Later...**

* * *

"At last... we made it before nightfall."

Before the two, the man and the wolfhound find themselves standing before the gates of Garreg Mach Monastery, home to the prestigious Officer's Academy, home to the renowned Knights of Serios...

... And the place to start Karna's new chapter of his life.

Eagerly, he approaches the gatekeeper. A youthful man in his early-to-mid-twenties in standard Church soldier armor and lance.

"Greeting sir!" The guard spoke out. "Welcome to Garreg Mach Monastery! How can I help you?"

"Uh, y-yes." Karna stuttered. "I'm here to see the Archbishop herself for an appointment. Here's my letter and application for proof."

He then hands the gatekeeper the papers, which then the young guard begins to read through.

"Umm.. sir?" The gatekeeper spoke out. "... Today's the _25th_. The paper here says that the appointment deadline was at the _23rd_."

All noise dies as Karna heard those words.

"... What." Karna flatly spoke out while unconsciously _restraining himself_ from lifting the guard by his neck and strangling every ounce of oxygen out of the poor soul's lungs.

... Because he _can_ and _might_.

"... Hm... now that I look at you for a moment, you look like you've might've been through some rough journey on your way here..." The gatekeeper stated. "Something happened?"

"... I fell off a cliff when the bandits attacked the village that I was in." Karna answered in a tone that restrained his _pent-up rage_. "And from the throbbing in my head might be coming from the fact that I FELL IN HEADFIRST!"

"... Yeah, that'll do it." The gatekeeper replied nervously. "I'll see to my superior officer and see it we can continue from there, okay?"

**"Make it quick, for your sake."**

The gatekeeper then asks one of the other soldiers to take his place as he relays the new message to his superior officer.

With a sigh, Karna crouches down into a ball, stuffing his cry of frustration into his knees.

The dog next to him whines in compassion as it cuddles against him.

"... Yes indeed." Karna groaned out. "How unfortunate."

He then sees the young guard accompanied by a large man in a caped white armor with a massive, spiked pauldron on his left shoulder.

"By the goddess!" The man exclaimed. "We all thought you were done in by those bandits!"

"... If it were, I wouldn't be here, would I?" Karna replied dryly.

"Ha! Guess not then." The man replied. "Call me Alois, my good man! As Knight of Serios, I'll be sure to answer whatever woes that you may be going though!"

"... Then do me a solid, and take me to the Archbishop." Karna spoke out.

"Did you spread the message?" Alois spoke to the gatekeeper.

"Y-Yes!" The soldier replied. "I've spread the word that the applicant survived!"

"Well now! There shouldn't be a problem then!" Alois confidently remarked. "Come now! I'm sure they're expecting your presence!"

With a sign of relief, Karna is then escorted into the gates with the Knight of Serios and his wolfhound as company.

"Well..." Karna muttered out. "... At least we're going somewhere today."

* * *

**25th of the Great Tree Moon, Friday, Evening**

* * *

And with easily with the _world's worst first __impression _possible, Karna begins his new chapter of his life.

"... How unfortunate."

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Something I thought up for the New Years'.

Dunno, I should probably focus on my other fics, but hey, I control what I write.

By that, I simply let my impulses dictate what I prioritize. Sue me.

Anyway, my first attempt at an FE fanfic.

Let me know how I did it in the review section, and for this occasion...

... Happy 2020, for 2019 sucked for me.


	2. Day 2: Roll Call

**The Dustbin**

**Day 2: Roll Call**

* * *

**25th of the Great Tree Moon, Friday, Evening**

* * *

"... An unfortunate array of circumstances, but sadly, I'm afraid Lady Rhea's decision is final."

Karna crushes his own face with both of his gloved hands in front of a sharp-dressed, green-haired man with a goatee.

"Because of course an upstart mercenary would end up being the Professor here then me, an Honors Graduate at Faerghus's Mage Academy, Head Researcher of the Adrestian Empire's Magical Theorem Studies, and a bearer of the Lost Crest of Noa from the Alliance." Karna pointed out in a slightly dejected tone.

"I understand that you're... confused of what's going on." The green-haired man stated. "But first, as I said before, I need you to calm down-"

"I HIT MY HEAD ON MY WAY HERE! GIVE ME ONE GOOD REASON WHY I SHOULD BE IN THE FIRST PLACE, _SETETH_!"

Seteth sees Karna's red-amber eyes_ glowing_ from his hood.

But before anything can occur, the door behind them opens, revealing a lime-green haired woman with a divine presence to her.

"L-Lady Rhea!" Seteth bowed to the woman.

"What troubles our applicant, Seteth?" Rhea spoke out in a serene tone.

She looks at the stressed Karna to get her answer.

"... Does this look like the face of a man who doesn't need help?" Karna spoke out towards Rhea. "Forgive my rudeness, but I had a really, _really_ bad day today."

"I understand your plight, Sir Yuga." Rhea calmly replied. "But first, I need you to cool your head for a moment."

She then reaches out towards Karna's arm, grabbing him by his wrist.

"UNHAND ME, WOMAN-"

* * *

*SLAM*

"... Evidently, she can handle me just fine." Karna mumbled as he caressed his sore wrist. "Seriously, that woman can kill a bear with that iron grip of her's..."

Karna begins to contemplate on just what kind of figure Rhea had underneath those robes.

He then looks around outside of the Archbishop's chambers, glancing around at the dimly-lit halls of the monastery.

"... To hell with it." Karna spoke out. "My application already null and void, so might as well explore before I make myself scarce."

Karna then begins to walk around the halls, with only his trained eyes being his guide in the dimness.

_"All doors are locked, as expected."_ Karna mentally noted._ "But seriously, why to I keep finding random crap on the halls?"_

First, an array of scattered notes outside an office door, then an empty wooden flask stinking of aged booze right outside of halls that he just got kicked out of, and-

_"... Somebody better find these before I burn them out of spite." _Karna thought in disgust as he scuttled away from a drunk woman collapsed onto the floor. _"And what's her story, I wonder?"_

Karna sniffs the air around her, smelling booze.

_"... Forget what I said."_ Karna thought._ "She's a just hot mess of a woman."_

Karna quickly tries to make himself scarce before something happens to him with that woman.

* * *

"Well that was a close one..." Karna sighed out after he exits the main building.

He then looks around to find himself in front of an artificial body of water, with a greenhouse next to him.

He then continues to look around the empty area, with only the company of cats prowling about at night.

_"So this must be the first-floor residence..."_ Karna noted his surroundings._ "... Sparring Grounds, Classrooms, Steamhouse, and even a space for commerce."_

He then spots a hidden figure running away from him.

"Hm?" Karna mumbled. "Who's there?"

He ran after the shadow around the corner, only to find himself where the stables were at.

"Damn, slippery one, ain't it..." Karna clicked his tongue. "Well at least I know that someone other then the Archbishop _whor_-, I mean... ugh... I hate today-"

*THWACK*

A sharp blow strikes behind Karna's head.

As his consciousness faded, a thought occurred.

_"... This is going to be a running gag, isn't it? If so, damn it all, I'm buying a helmet."_

*THUD*

* * *

_"...ey... he's waking up?"_

_"Want me to get water..."_

Karna slowly opens his eyes, his vision still blurry from the blunt impact given to him.

In his eyes, it presented a rather... _alarming_ view.

He found himself against the wall, with both of his arms tied behind his back with a rough rope that would be used to pin freights to portside, the flooring was aged wood, like that of a tavern's or hunter's shed, the room itself was a mess, with desks and chairs scattered about in a disorganized cacophony of an organization, a lone bookshelf thrown onto its back, lying down on the floor, creating even more clutter, and chandelier above looked like on the verge of falling from its hinges.

As for the inhabitants themselves, they were also equally odd as Karna's current predicament.

Three males and three females, each of them extremely distinct from each other in likeness, sans for their student uniforms, all of which were exactly like the typical student of Garreg Mach would wear, only with most of the golden tassels removed, leaving it as a symbol of loss of prestige.

One male was a short, black-haired youth with a slightly-ruffled ponytailed tied behind his head, a pair of deep purple eyes contrasting greatly with his pale complexion, his uniform's overcoat was slung over his shoulders like a makeshift cape, and in his hands was a large tome labeled "Anthology of General Theorem of Magic, Volume 4".

The other male, by contrast, was a muscle-bound youth with dark-tan skin and short flame-red hair, his face was covered with small scars, his eyes were that of glowing topaz-yellow, his uniform was in complete tatters, as if someone had thrown it into a fireplace as some sort of a sick prank, and instead of black leather shoes, he was wearing thick-looking books with rope tied around his legs like bindings.

And finally, at the dark corner of the room, there was a male of average height, but his facial features were completely obscured by the bandages wrapped all over his face, leaving only a few strands of silver hair and blood-red eyes brimming with hate, his hands and legs were also completely covered in bandages, implying that the mysterious youth was covered head to toe in bandages, as some sort of grand injury has been inflicted upon him.

As for the female cast, there were two similar-looking redheads, most likely being twins, with one twin having braid hang from her left and the other's hanging from her right, both also had coordinating tattoos, with the twin with the left braid having a claw-like mark underneath her right eye, while the other having a wing-like mark underneath her left eye. Both, by contrast to their peers, were wearing their uniforms proper, albeit without the gold laces like the other students.

And finally, sitting on the podium was a short, tanned girl with long, flowing purple hair, her lower half half of her face obscured by a layer of black cloth, her uniform lacked the jacket, the skirt went all the way down to her lower calves with a silt cut upwards on her right side of her skirt, and strapped around her exposed right thigh were a bandolier of throwing knives, with one of those blades twirling around her fingers, performing tricks with it, nimbly manipulating the blade between her digits, all the while, her catlike glare not breaking from Karna.

"... Well you lot look friendly." Karna commented on the odd bunch of youths. "Dare I ask, who are you all, and why have you kidnapped me?"

The girl with the knife flicks the dagger towards Karna, only for the cloaked man to catch the blade between his teeth.

"Hm, guess you're awake enough to not needing to use your hands, let alone, dodge." The veiled girl stated.

"Please, I had my fair share of bandits during my travels." Karna stated. "Always slept with one eye open."

"Didn't stop us from knocking you out like a light." The reading youth pointed out.

"Hilarious." Karna snarked back. "So would you mind letting me go? I have to be out of monastery grounds by tomorrow morning."

Another knife nails right next to Karna's face.

"Give us one reason why." The veiled girl asked with her hand extended outwards.

"Well firstly." Karna went on. "I've no clue who you people are other then surprisingly bloodthirsty seventeen-year olds-"

"I'm 19." The veiled girl snapped.

"Held back?" Karna asked the veiled girl.

"More like forced to attend school later then anyone else." The reading boy pointed out. "She once threatened her previous professor to put her in a class around her age range. She ended up here, Garreg Mach's dumping ground for underperforming students; The Dustbin."

Karna now figures out what was going on.

"... Ah, I see now." Karna stated. "It seems that I now found my place here after all."

"What do you mean?" The veiled girl asked as she retrieved another knife from her band.

"Tell me..." Karna asked. "... Do you lot actually like it here?"

The youths exchange confused looks at each other.

"No no no, I don't mean the travesty of a homeroom that you're all in right now." Karna pointed out. "I mean your current predicament. The lack of a proper guidance, respect, and might I add, hygiene."

"... Now that I think about it, I'm starting to get a little tired of this room we have." The girl with the claw tattoo lampshades.

"The dust here is kinda making me a little dizzy..." The girl with the wing tattoo points out.

"Yeah, I kinda miss the out and open fields..." The large redhead sighs out. "The students up there can use the stables while I have to fetch Darius from the wilderness constantly..."

The bandaged boy lets out a low grumble before a cough.

"True." The reading boy stated. "I'd admit that the dimness is not good for my eyes..."

"I really do not care in the slightest of my circumstances." The veiled girl argues. "... But the idea of finally getting the respect I deserve sounds tempting."

"So we all agree, then?" Karna asks.

All of the youths, however, still remain skeptical from their doubtful expressions.

_"... Hmm, guess being relegated to this position would damage one's perception of their own prospects."_ Karna thought._ "... No matter, time to apply a little force."_

He then forms a magic circle with his bound hands.

"What the-" The reading boy dropped his book.

"[Flux Η]."

Everything sans Karna starting levitating off of the ground.

"WHOA WHOA WHOA!" The claw-tattooed girl exclaimed. "WHAT THE BLOODY ELL'S GOIN' ON!?"

The girl with the wing tattoo starts screaming uncontrollably in panic.

"So this what it feels like to fly on your own..." The redhead stated in wonder. "... Oh cripes, I can't come down. IT'S STARTING TO BECOME A LITTLE SCARY UP HERE!"

The bandaged boy starts flailing and screeching in a feral manner, reminiscent of a wounded animal.

"... Fascinating." The boy with the book remarked as he closed his book while floating midair. "I've never seen this kind of magic during my studies."

The veiled girl tries to throw her knife, but the knife simply floats listlessly in the air upon being thrown, going nowhere towards its intended target/Karna.

"... I think I've played along enough as hostage." Karna remarked as his hands glowed once more. "[Miasma Δ]."

The rope around his arms burn away from the purple energy emitted from his hands, freeing Karna of his bindings with relative ease.

"So..." Karna speaks out with slight smugness. "I take it that you have no objections to my prowess?"

"Prowess of what?" The boy with the closed book asked.

Karna brushes his hair upwards, removing his hood from his head.

"My prowess as your new Professor, of course." Karna answered. "What, were there doubts of me being able to handle six dysfunctional delinquents? Please. If it means that I can work here and use my talents to the best of their intended use, then I won't complain."

The book boy then lets out a loud cackle before stopping to a wheeze.

"... Oh boy." The boy sighed out. "Methinks that you have no idea what you're getting into."

"Well, allow me to take a few hints of my own, then." Karna replied. "The twins are from Brigid, as evidenced by their tattoos below their eyes, the redhead and the knife girl are Almyran in origin, as evidenced by their skin tones and manner of dress, the legging and the veil respectively, although the redhead seems to be nomadic while the girl is more of a city-dweller herself, and as for the bandaged boy, that shade of silver hair sticking out of your wrappings indicate that you might be Duscuran, though with those bandages covering you, you might also be an albino, and coming from you, boy, pale skin, dark hair, you're a native from the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, and should I take an even more daring guess, I assume that you've also attended the Kingdom's Mage Academy prior coming here, as evidenced by the book that you were reading, which, by the way, I've helped co-author."

"... Wait, YOU'RE KARNA YUGA!?" The boy cried out in surprise. "ONE OF FODLAN'S GREATEST ARCANE MINDS OF THE CURRENT GENERATION!?"

"... I suppose introductions are an order." Karna stated. "As the boy stated, my name is Karna Yuga, and I was supposed to be teaching here, until I fell off of a cliff and was out like a light for two days straight, and I was subsequently replaced by some sellsword with zero academic credentials."

"... Wow. I'm so sorry that happened to a man of your caliber." The boy apologized.

"So that's my story." Karna finished. "So tell me, what are yours?"

"... I'll start." The boy with the book stated. "But first, can you put us down?"

Karna snaps his fingers, causing everything sans himself to crash back to the ground.

The massive redhead breaks through the wooden floor, falling into a deep pit below.

"... Don't worry about him." The boy stated. "Those muscles aren't just for show."

"I'm okay!" The redhead spoke from the pit. "... But it's a little dark here, and I need help getting out."

The twin girls life the massive Redhead out of the rut, with said redhead sweating like crazy.

"... Now then, allow me to lead off." The boy stated. "My name is Byron Amadeus Noa. Former heir of the now-slaughtered Noa Family, 19 years of age, magical prodigy of Faerghus, and the bane of every single teacher that had the misfortune of boring me to death with their lessons that I've already learned. Reason why I'm here? I scared away so many of my own Professors back at the Blue Lions House that literally didn't know what to do with me. So they just dumped me here to rot, all because they couldn't comprehend my brilliance."

_"Ah, so he must be one of 'those' students."_ Karna surmised._ "The genius student that always scares off every teacher that he 'learns' under. I'll see to it that he remains... engaged."_

"Us next! Us next!" The girl with the claw tattoo hopped up and down with her hand raised.

She then drags her wing-tattooed twin sister to the limelight.

"My name's Sorcha McCarthy!" The girl with the claw tattoo spoke out with spunk.

"... I'm Selene McCarthy." The girl with the wing tattoo spoke out meekly.

"And as you can tell, we're twins!" Sorcha spoke out as she placed her hand around her sister's shoulder. "Been together from cradle to now for 17 years in a row!"

"... We've been forced to accompany the Crown Princess of Brigid under our father's orders, as political hostages." Selene stated. "... As you can tell of our current situation, you can clearly see that it went far-South."

"Yep." Sorcha sighed out in frustration. "One of the Black Eagle bastards tried to blackmail my sis into coercing her into copping a feel all because we're Brigid, but I caught on in seconds, and beat the living crud out of him in the boy's bathroom."

"... Turned out that boy Sorcha beat up? It turns out his father was part of the Adrestrian Empire's branch of Garreg Mach's educational board." Selene sheepishly stated.

"After that mess, we got booted to The Dustbin." Sorcha spat out in distain. "The twat got away scot-free, but in his defense, I snapped his spine like a twig, so he ain't walking ever again."

_"... Interesting."_ Karna thought._ "The two are decent enough, but racism once again gets the better of human's minds and forsook the two down here. I'll be sure to vindicate them, for not because it's my duty as their potential instructor, but logic states that whoever responsible must be reprimanded for this."_

"Allow me to go next!" The large redhead. "I'm Cyrus Iskandar! The next chieftain of to my fellow nomads back home.. or so I would be if I weren't captured by the Alliance as a trophy by the famed Holst of Goneril. Now it has been roughly 16 months overdue for my rite-of-passage back home, and I'm really worried for my father, who's both ailing in health and vigor, all the more reason why I need to go back home quickly as possible. But sadly, the Alliance sought to make my journey back home difficult as possible, by first sending me here to this infernal academy in order to 'civilize' me. Not agreeing, I've made multiple attempts to run back home, on foot if I must, but it turns out that the guards here are way more vigilant then one gives them for, especially that young gatekeeper..."

_"So by all admissions, he's basically a pet to the __Alliance. And rather anxious to go back home."_ Karna surmised._ "I've remember taking notes that Almyra's coming-of-age ceremony begins when the child reaches the age of 18, and so, if he states that he's 16 months overdue... 19 years of age. Poor soul. I'll see to it that he graduates quickly as possible so that he may retrieve what is rightfully his."_

"I guess as a fellow Almyran, I'll proceed to go next, then." The veiled girl spoke out. "Back home, I was given the name Topaz the Rattlesnake. Since for the past 19 years since my birth, I was trained as the Almyran Royal Family's hitman, taking out political dissidents that would dare harm the Sultan's heir. Upon hearing that the heir was moved to the Alliance territory, I infiltrated this academy as a student, but my cover was blown, and before I could escape, I was caught, and ended up becoming an actual student in the Golden Deer. In retaliation for this humiliation, I tried to commit suicide with poison, but all of my tools were confiscated by the Church, so I ended up breaking in and only managed to take my knives back before I got caught. Oddly enough, they only let me keep my knives after I agreed to be exiled down here."

_"So a royal assassin from Almyra, acting as the heir's hidden guardian..."_ Karna analyzed._ "... I'm only theorizing that she's this open because either I 'passed' her weird brand of test __involving knives, or considering that she's already a prisoner of this school, she pretty much gave up on secrecy. Either way, it seems that she's not there to endanger me... for now, at least."_

The bandaged boy then walks up to Karna, slouching towards him, in an almost primal manner, akin to that of an animal.

"... Vidar." The bandaged boy spoke out in a hoarse tone.

"He seems oddly quiet." Karna pointed out.

"Yeah about that..." Cyrus spoke out nervously. "... He's down here because he _bit off_ a student's ear during sparring."

Karna looks into his bloodshot, ruby-red eyes, sensing nothing but primal rage coming from them.

_"... Something tells me he wasn't always like this."_ Karna surmised._ "Either way, I just hope that I don't end up losing a finger while dealing with him."_

With that in mind, Karna looks across the students before him.

"So we have a teacher's worst nightmare, twins who were at the wrong place at the wrong time, an anxious heir desperate to return home, an assassin imprisoned in the confines of the monastery's walls, a borderline feral youth acting more akin to a rabid animal, and me, a Professor that was tardy, and his career and reputation in jeopardy after one, stupid, bandit attack." Karna spoke out. "Quite an interesting group we form..."

Vidar then sniffs his hair like a dog, right before breaking away and hiding back in the corner, scratching his nails against the walls.

"That means that he's okay with you." Byron stated. "Vidar sniffs your hair first before he decides to trust you or not. If he doesn't trust you, well..."

"Ear gets bitten off?" Karna answered.

"... He almost gouged someone eye out with a spoon at the Dining Hall." Selene stated. "... Since then, he's banned from entrance."

"Oh my." Karna sighed out. "And I suppose I'll learn more of you lot as I be with you?"

Everyone sans Vidar nods.

"... Very well." Karna answers. "I'll see to it that I reformulate my negotiations. But first, where's the exit?"

"Over there." Byron pointed upwards.

Karna taps his hand across the surface, revealing a shed-like hatch door.

"... We're literally in a basement." Karna pointed out.

"I heard rumors that this place used to be a dig site for some kind of secret society dwelling underneath the monastery, but the students got caught and the whole place just became a storage before the actual storage got moved elsewhere, and after that, we, kinda took over this place." Byron explained.

"Fair enough." Karna stated as he opened the hatch doors, only to be greeted by Seteth, out of all people.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't drag you out of here and throw you into a downstream river." Seteth glowered in disapproval.

"Two, actually." Karna explained. "One, I can easily get out of here myself as I'm doing right now. And two, about the students down here?"

"What are you implying?" Seteth asked.

Karna smiles.

"... How about we renegotiate my terms?" Karna states.

Seteth pinches the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"... Tomorrow morning." Seteth grumbled. "And this time, I will not be so lenient on you being tardy again. Understood?"

"I won't make the same mistake twice." Karna reassured. "I'll be at the nearest inn and situate myself there until tomorrow morning."

With that said, both Karna and Seteth go their separate ways.

"... Oh, and one last thing-"

"I'M NOT IN THE MOOD RIGHT NOW!" Seteth barked out. "DON'T MAKE ME RETRACT MY STATEMENT!"

Karna stands there in silent shock as Seteth briskly walks away from him.

"... Jerk."

* * *

**The Next Morning...**

* * *

**26th of the Great Tree Moon, Saturday, Early Morning**

* * *

"Greetings, sir!" Karna passed the gatekeeper. "I hope you had a good morning-"

"Can't talk. Can't afford to be late again." Karna mumbled out as he passed by the young gatekeeper.

Karna, reminded of his previous failures, briskly walks towards the Archbishop's building once more, and this time, nothing shall distract him.

The sun slowly rose from the horizon, as Karna continued to walk down the paved stone grounds of Garreg Mach.

Along the way, he makes quick observations around his surroundings.

He spotted Vidar hiding in the foliage, observing the same blue-caped blond youth training early in the morning.

He saw Byron carry an entire pile of books away from the dumpster for himself.

He spotted the Brigid twins scaling the rooftops of the dormitories.

He also spots Cyrus fishing by the body of water next to the greenhouse.

And speaking of the greenhouse, he spots Topaz sneaking away with a bag full of dead plants.

"Hmm. Odd." Karna remarked as he entered the main building and made his way up towards the audience chamber.

As he heads towards the audience chamber, he hears the sounds of cluttering and banging from the infirmary,

Karna ignores the groaning coming from the room, and approaches the double doors of the audience chamber.

He knocks on the door, only for no one to respond.

"Tch." Karna clicks his lips. "Guess I'll simply wait then."

He then sets his massive backpack on the ground as he sits down on the stone floor next to it, waiting for his time to come.

"It's early in the morning." Karna remarked out loud. "Surly, they won't keep me waiting."

* * *

**Four Hours Later...**

* * *

"... Tell me why you're like this." Seteth facepalmed as he spoke to Karna.

"Hey, you specifically said that you won't be as lenient the next time that I was late." Karna pointed out.

"Just how long were you here?" Seteth asked.

"... About 4 to 5 hours." Karna answered.

"... Better question, how much sleep did you get last night?" Seteth sighed out.

"Approximately 2 hours." Karna answered. "When you've traveled around the continent with all of its dangers forefront, your body kinda learns how to adapt with much sleep in the least amount of time possible."

"Ugh..." Seteth groaned out. "... There's a fine line between punctual, and just downright _anal_."

"Regardless, all that matters is that he's here."

In front of the two, the Archbishop, Rhea appears before the two, accompanied by a tanned, blonde woman in her late-20s wearing an ensemble of silver armor and a serrated longsword sheathed behind her waist.

"Lady Rhea!" Seteth briskly bowed.

"... And who are you to be, miss?" Karna asked the silver-armored woman as he got up.

"They call me 'Thunderstrike Catherine'." Catherine greeted. "But please, call me Catherine."

"Pleasure meeting you, Catherine." Karna shook her hand. "Quite an _electrifying_ aura you got there."

"Oh please." Catherine rolled her eyes. "Leave the bad puns to Alois, he's the only good at em."

"Ahem."

The two look towards Seteth, glowering.

"... Don't you recall why you're here in the first place?" Seteth pointed out.

"Now who's the anal one..." Karna rolled his eyes as he entered the audience chambers and into Seteth's office.

The four then gather around and begin their meeting.

"*sigh* Now, if I recall..." Seteth began. "I suspect that you were unfortunate enough to be kidnapped by Garreg Mach's... _underperforming_ students upon your arrival?"

"Yes, that would be the case..." Karna answered. "... But technicalities aside, I got to know them really well."

"Then here's the question." Seteth went on. "What are your opinions on them?"

"... Honestly, they're the kind of students that deserves my attention." Karna answered.

"Oh?" Catherine raised her eyebrow. "So our tardy professor is interested in 'The Dustbin'?"

"In all honesty, yes." Karna stated. "I mean, there's a student that was too much for other professors to handle, twin girls that were screwed over by your own educational board, a political hostage that really has a bad case of homesickness, a displaced hitwoman, and a borderline feral youth who once bit off someone's ear. Please convince me that I can feasibly ignore them, at all."

Seteth, Rhea, and Catherine all exchange confused looks with each other.

"Do you call what happened last year?" Rhea asked Catherine.

"Oh yeah, I was the one who had to pull him off of the poor kid..." Catherine scratched her head as she recalled.

"... And your point being?" Seteth pointed out.

"Don't you see?" Karna replied with barely-restrained glee. "I wish to spread my knowledge to the next generation in this epicenter of growth, but help the lowest of low rise up to their fullest potential while doing the former? I'm practically killing two birds with one stone!"

"... An ambitious one, aren't you, Mr. Yuga?" Rhea pointed out.

"And you sure that you're not just doing it for your own credentials?" Catherine also pointed out. "I've seen those kinds of professors, and let me tell you, half of them don't come back here because of _me_. The other half, I think it might've been that bookish-looking kid."

"Oh don't get me wrong, madam Archbishop." Karna stated. "It's not just for my own credentials to boast towards my peers back at the Adrestian Empire's Magical Scientific Community. No, I'm doing this for everything that this potential endeavor has to offer."

"I assure you, Karna, it won't be like your adventures outside of Fodlan." Seteth pointed out. "You're not just dealing with mere delinquents. You're dealing with the worst of the worst students that this prestigious academy has to offer. Are you sure that you're willing to accept the position as Professor of the Remedial Course?"

Karna just smiles at Seteth's proposition.

"Let's make this more interesting." Karna stated. "How about a binding agreement between the two of us?"

"Explain." Seteth stated.

"Simple really." Karna stated. "I want you to put me under a contract that legally, by law and creed, that I'm not allowed to chicken out of teaching these students, regardless of whatever happens to me during this semester. Basically, I'm burning every single escape boat from the moment I start teaching these students, and only by death, I will be relieved of my duties."

All three of the Garreg Mach staff were taken aback by Karna's borderline suicidal resolve to teach the students from 'The Dustbin'.

"... Please reconsider your words, Mr. Yuga." Rhea spoke out in a stunned tone. "Surely, you really don't tend to put your very life on the line just to teach in our prestigious academy-"

Karan flings himself out of his seat and pulls Rhea closer to him by her dress's collar.

"ARCHBISHOP!" Catherine cried out as she drew her sword.

"... Look into my eyes, Archbishop." Karna growled out. "Tell me, that do you think me, out of all people, would back away from a challenge? I literally have your attack dog's blade pointed to my neck, and do you see me conceding under her overwhelming aura?"

It was true.

Karna was too focused on Rhea's eyes that he flat-out ignores Catherine's emitted blood rage, whereas Seteth was having a hard time breathing under it.

**"Yesterday, I've come to a realization that my very golden opportunity was snatched from me by some no-name sellsword after a sting of bad luck two days prior."** Karna ranted out as an dark-purple aura emitted from him.** "But upon the verge of despair, I've found an even more valuable opportunity in form of those youths that you and your institution threw away. Allow me to reiterate; DON'T TAKE THIS AWAY FROM ME." **

Rhea, despite facing the visage of pure desperation, remains composed.

"... You've made your point, Mr. Yuga." Rhea stated. "I shall commission the necessary paperworks for your enlistment to Garreg Mach. Seteth?"

The bearded man slowly gets up, wheezing.

"... Thank you, Archbishop." Karna stated as he let go of the Archbishop. "Also, apologizes for losing my temper. I really never got along with my peers back at the Empire, twice so whenever they doubt me or my propositions."

"I'm watching you, Karna." Catherine glowered at the cloaked man as she sheathed her sword. "Next time, however? Thunderbrand will _feed_."

"I'm not suicidal enough to get struck by lightning twice, _Thunderstrike_." Karna replied. "I'll be sure to be on my best behavior, doubly so when the Archbishop is involved."

"You have my permission to roam the grounds, but facilities are off-limits until further authorization." Rhea stated. "After all, you need to focus on bettering the worst students of this academy, correct?"

"I can live with that." Karna stated. "So when's the paperwork coming?"

"My, hasty, aren't you?"

"I think 'anxious' is the proper term." Karna retorted.

* * *

**About Two Hours (and one Printing Press ****malfunction) Later...**

* * *

"Sign here."

Karna takes the quill and signs his name on the line, stating that he's bound for the entire semester to teach the worst of the worst that the Officer's Academy has to offer, with him not being able to quit during his duration of the semester.

"Congratulations, and welcome to Garreg Mach, Professor Yuga." Rhea speaks as she shakes Karna's hand. "So being eager as you are, what is your first course of action?"

Karna caresses his chin before answering.

"... I'm going to need lots of cleaning equipment." Karna stated.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **So, managed to squeeze this one out before second semester starts.

So out dear professor has accepted his position as the Professor to the worst of the worst students of Garreg Mach.

And yes, I did see the Ashen Wolf Expansion Pack, and suffice to say, they will be relevant to this fic's plot.

Just need to buy the damn thing first before I implement them, but hey, their first meeting place is smack dab between the surface and the Abyss, for starters.

So with that said, here are the brief overviews for our students and staff from 'The Dustbin':

* * *

**Name: **Karna Yuga

**Age: **33

**Height: **183 cm

**Crest:** Timotheos (Major)

**Proficiencies: **[Reason], [Faith], & [Authority]

**Demerits: **[Swords], [Axes], [Brawling]

**Hidden Talents: **[Lances] & [Riding]

**Voiced By: **Koji Yusa (JPN), Khoi Dao (ENG)

* * *

**Name: **Byron Amadeus Noa

**Age: **19

**Height: **156 cm

**Crest: **Noa (Minor)

**Proficiencies: **[Axes], [Reason], & [Flying]

**Demerits:** [Lances], [Faith], & [Authority]

**Hidden Talents: **[Faith] & [Riding]

**Voiced By: **Nobunaga Shimazaki (JPN), Max Mittelman (ENG)

* * *

**Name:** Sorcha McCarthy

**Age:** 17

**Height:** 169 cm

**Crest:** Nil

**Proficiencies:** [Swords], [Axes], [Brawling], & [Authority]

**Demerits:** [Reason], [Faith], [Riding], & [Flying]

**Hidden Talents: **[Bows]

**Voiced By: **Miyuki Sawashiro (JPN), Gina Bowes (ENG)

* * *

**Name:** Selene McCarthy

**Age:** 17

**Height:** 169 cm

**Crest:** Nil

**Proficiencies:** [Lances], [Bows], & [Faith]

**Demerits:** [Axes], [Brawling], & [Authority]

**Hidden Talents: **[Reason]

**Voiced By: **Nanako Mori (JPN), Melissa Fahn (ENG)

* * *

**Name:** Cyrus Iskandar

**Age:** 19

**Height:** 197 cm

**Crest:** Nil

**Proficiencies:** [Swords], [Lances], [Riding], & [Authority]

**Demerits:** [Axes], [Brawling], [Reason], [Faith], & [Flying]

**Hidden Talents: **[Bows]

**Voiced By: **Yasuyuki Kase (JPN), Ray Chase (JPN)

* * *

**Name:** Topaz, "The Rattlesnake"

**Age:** 19

**Height:** 140 cm

**Crest:** Nil

**Proficiencies:** [Swords], [Bows], & [Flying]

**Demerits:** [Lances], [Axes], & [Faith]

**Hidden Talents: **[Reason] & [Authority]

**Voiced By: **Yui Horie (JPN), Stephanie Shah (ENG)

* * *

**Name:** Vidar

**Age:** ?

**Height:** 175 cm

**Crest:** ?

**Proficiencies:** [Axes], [Brawling], & [Riding]

**Demerits:** [Swords] & [Lances]

**Hidden Talents:** [Bows]

**Voiced By: **Toshihiko Seki (JPN), Bryce Papenbrook (ENG)

* * *

So with that said, what do you dear audience think of this chapter?

Please let me know in the reviews section!


	3. Day 3: Spring Cleaning

**The Dustbin**

**Day 3: Spring Cleaning**

* * *

**26th of the Great Tree Moon, Afternoon**

* * *

Inside the underground shed where the exiled students hung out (for lack of a better term), each of them minding their own business.

Byron was reading through his unfinished book written by his potentially-new professor.

Vidar was wandering around aimlessly, randomly stumbling into the walls and corners of the still-standing desks.

Sorcha was doing push-ups, her shirt already off, and her well-built bare body dripping sweat onto the wooden floor.

Selene was scribbling something on the chalkboard, with a drawing of hills that looked like white giants slowly forming.

Cyrus was looking thorough the map of Garreg Mach and the entirety of Fodlan, potentially plotting his next possible escape route back home.

And Topaz was throwing her knives into the wooden rapports supporting the foundation of the basement, pinning a cockroach onto the pillar with another throw.

"So sister..." Selene spoke to Sorcha.

"What is it?" Sorcha replied.

"We did see the professor head to the main building this morning, right?" The twin pointed out as she set down the small piece of chalk on the blackboard.

"Maybe." Sorcha replied as she continued to do her push-ups. "I mean, I was watching the Princess sleep in her room."

"Which one?" Byron cut in. "The Adrestian, or the Brigid hostage?"

"Does it matter which one?" Sorcha replied. "Both are dead to me."

"... I want to believe in the Princess again, but every passing day, I feel as if my faith is being tested..." Selene sighed out.

"Seriously, you two need help." Byron sighed out. "You two's obsession with the Black Eagles's two Princesses make Cyrus over there look less neurotic in comparison."

"At least I have a clear endgoal in mind!" Cyrus pointed out before he buried his head back into his maps and notes.

The students go silent for a moment before one of them resumes the conversation.

"So Byron..." Topaz asked the bookworm student as she pulled out her knives from the wooden rapport. "... Don't you owe me a favor? I did tell you where Seteth was keeping the contraband books before they were disposed of."

"Meh, only a few were worth taking. The rest were either legitimate garbage that don't deserve to be called literature, or I already have them to begin with." Byron pointed out. "So in essence, you're the one who owes me a favor, since, I actually went out of my way to create a replica key for the greenhouse out of slag from the smithery."

"It broke as soon as I inserted it." Topaz retorted. "Almost broke one of my knives trying to jury-rig the lock open."

"Let's just agree to disagree on the fact that we both owe each other anything." Byron stated right before he sunk his nose back into his book.

"Fair enough."

The whole underground bunker goes silent of words yet again.

"... So where do you think Professor Karna is at-"

The bunker doors burst opening, with the searing rays of sunlight shining below, revealing a silhouette from the rays.

"... You look ridiculous." Topaz pointed out.

Karna himself was still in his black garbs, only this time, his hair and face were covered in white cloth, his black robes were overlaid with a plain brown apron, his gloved hands were covered with another pair of brown gloves, and in his twice-gloved hands were several brooms, feather dusters, and buckets full of water and scrubbing rags.

"Appearance matters not when the place that needs to be cleaned up happens to be a literal dumpster." Karna retorted. "I wish to teach all of you, I really do. But first, we need to do something about this pigsty."

He then throws one of the brooms towards Topaz, with her catching it.

"Come now. Class won't start until this whole place is straightened out." Karna pointed out as he tossed the brooms to the other students, with everyone catching it (Vidar caught the broom's shaft between his teeth).

"One problem, Professor." Byron spoke out.

Karna then looked at the pile of books that Byron himself was sitting on.

"... Ah." Karna placed his fist's bottom on top of his palm. "I'm assuming they need a home where they won't be found? By anyone, especially by a person of interest named _Seteth_?"

Byron simply smiles.

"Knowing you, I suppose you have a plan?" Byron replied.

"This place used to be so-called 'dig site', correct?" Karna pointed out as he walked towards the blackboard.

He winds his left leg back, as far as he could, and then delivers a swift kick to the blackboard, completely destroying the board into splinters and slate, revealing a gaping hole resembling an abandoned mine shaft.

"Don't worry, I'll just tell the staff that the blackboard was eaten out by termites." Karna reassured. "They'll do anything as long as I don't quit my job."

"... B-B-But that was my drawing that I've been working on since I got here..." Selene whimpered out.

"I recommend charcoal next time, Miss Selene." Karna replied. "Chalk art is good and all, but your landscape artistry deserves to go on a more... _noticeable_ platform."

Karna then pulls out a small handbook and travel quiz, and begins scribbling on it before ripping out the page that he was drawing on and handing it to Selene.

"... That's an exact replica of my drawing." Selene spoke out in surprise. "... It took me since sunrise to input this amount of detail whereas you only glanced at it for a second to memorize the whole thing."

"Use that as a reference in a future drawing." Karna pointed out. "Until then..."

He twirls his broom in his hand, kicking up a cloud of dust with the broomhead.

"... Better now then later to get started, shall we?" Karna smiled.

All of them stop what they were doing and begin sweeping the classroom floors.

Byron begin putting his books inside the hole formed from Karna's kick, Cyrus hastily stuffs his maps and notes inside of his pockets before lifting up a loose chandelier off of the floor, Vidar sweeps the floor while he himself was sweeping the floor on all of his fours (still keeping the broom between his teeth), Topaz assists the Brigid twins lifting up the upturned bookshelf off of the floor, and Karna himself was dusting the still-intact furnitures in the basement.

"So where does all the clutter go?" Byron asked as he put the contraband books into the hole.

"Sweep them in one spot, I uses for them later." Karna pointed out as he dusted the teacher's desk.

Byron then picks up his broom and begins sweeping the gravel and dirt into the open area of the cellar.

"Well, that's enough for the cleaning..." Karna stated as he looked at the now mostly-cleared out classroom. "... But renovations are still needed. I mean, the flooring itself is already a safety hazard."

"Nah, I think we should be fine-"

Cyrus, once again, falls through the floor upon stepping on the weak link of the boarding, with an auditable sound of crashing being heard below.

"... You okay there, buddy?" Sorcha called out.

"SOMEONE GET ME OUT OF HERE!"

"He's fine." Sorcha shrugged. "I'll get the rope ladder."

The Brigid girl with the claw tattoo then retrieves a rope knot ladder before tossing it down into the freshly formed hole.

"... I'll contact Seteth to outsource this work to other laborers." Karna sighed out. "If anyone's hurt, the staff told me to go to... Manuela's office. Apparently, she's the head healer in this Academy."

"OW!" Cyrus cried out in pain. "... I think I sprained my ankle."

"Ok, forget that, someone call Alois..."

* * *

**_One Successful Rescue _****_Attempt Later..._**

* * *

"Okay, slowly, carefully..."

Karna and Alois were carrying the giant Almyran student by his shoulders, his right ankle (currently bent _outwards_ from his body) limping his way towards Manuela's office.

"Sorry Professor..." Cyrus winced out. "... This is even worse back when I fell off my very first horse when I was four. My father said that my head hit a rock and I was bleeding like mad. Almost died. Kinda traumatic."

"Well, at least there's no bleeding." Alois reassured. "Just remember, don't look a gift horse in the mouth!"

"Boo." Karna booed at Alois's pun.

"Oh come now! I was saving that for the Calvary Tournament in later months!" Alois protested.

"Too soon, Mr. Alois." Cyrus groaned out. "At least when my head was bleeding, I couldn't feel anything from the head down... I honestly prefer that right now. At least I was home back then."

"Graduate first, Cyrus." Karna pointed out. "But first, heal. Then, learn. Afterwards, graduate. Then finally, I'll see it to myself you return home at all costs. But only condition, I ask you to be patient for a year. Understood?"

Cyrus nods in agreement.

"Good." Karna stated as he looked at the building's map that was given to him by Seteth. "Now according to my notes, Manuela's office should be up the stairwell and straight ahead to the left..."

The three slowly make their way up the stairs, reach the next floor, and slowly make their way straight ahead, eventually stopping before a door.

"So this is it?" Karna asked Alois.

"Yes indeed!" Alois replied. "We'll get your boy back up in a jiffy!"

The three enter through the door, meeting a buxom woman with short chestnut-colored hair in a dull emerald green dress and a fluffy, white shawl around her shoulders.

Karna freezes in place upon seeing the woman.

"... Oh dammit all." Karna spoke out. "That's Manuela?"

"Hm? Something the matter?" Alois asked.

Karna lets out a heavy sigh before tossing Cyrus to the nearest cot available.

"I ran into her passed out on the floor during my first night here." Karna stated. "She reeked of booze from where I was standing, and I bolted before anything could happen to me, for I've seen and dealt with my fair share of drunk women. They're way stronger then they look."

"How rude!" Manuela snapped. "You could've helped me out back to my room at least!"

"HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT THE INFIRMARY WAS YOUR ROOM!?" Karna snapped back. "LET ALONE, THE INFIRMARY'S LOCATION!? OR THE FACT THAT YOU WERE THE ACADEMY'S HEAD NURSE IN THE FIRST PLACE!?"

"... Fair enough." Manuela sighed out. "Now what happened to that kid-OH MY GODDESS! WHAT HAPPENED TO HIS LEG!?"

The three adults in the room look at Cyrus's right leg, which was currently dislocated from ankle to knee, the whole leg bending_ outward_.

"... If I said he fell through the floor, would you believe me?" Karna asked Manuela.

"I-I mean, _maybe_!?" Manuela replied hesitantly. "I only saw this kind of injury once back during my opera company days, and let tell you, that person never got back on stage, ever again."

_"Huh, so that's why the rope ladder was so long..."_ Karna thought. _"... I'll have to put up a word with Seteth about the potential safety hazards of my new classroom."_

Manuela then peeks under Cyrus's pants sleeve, seeing the purplish-red bruises spotted on his twisted ankle and knee.

"Umm... So will the boy be able to walk again?" Alois asked Manuela.

"... It's a longshot, but I think I can do it." Manuela answered. "But first, I need someone to hold the boy down."

"You're going to forcibly relocate his joints, use the [Heal] spell, then put him in a cast and crutches?" Karna pointed out.

"Glad you're fast on the uptake." Manuela replied. "Alois, hold him down."

"Yes ma'am!"

The Knight of Seiros pins down Cyrus's arms to the cot.

"You there." Manuela spoke to Karna. "You know any Faith Magic?"

"I'm capable of basic first-aid with [Heal]." Karna replied.

"Alright then..." Manuela sighed out as he stretched her arms. "... As soon as I force the leg back into place, [Heal] got it?"

"Ready when you are." Karna stated as he prepares to cast [Heal] on Cyrus's leg.

The whole room goes silent before the storm.

"One..."

Alois gulps in anticipation for what's to come.

"Two..."

Manuela's grip around Cyrus's leg becomes firmer.

"... THREE!"

***SCRUNCH***

* * *

_**One Unholy Screaming and Flailing Later...**_

* * *

"Hang in there, Cyrus." Karna reassured as he casted [Heal] on the now-passed out Cyrus's leg. "Everything's going to be alright..."

"... I wasn't sure that it would even work." Manuela sighed out as she slouched against her work stool. "Regardless, good work, everyone."

"Well, let's just say we had a_ leg up_ on his situation before it got worse!" Alois laughed out.

"... Really?" Manuela groaned out.

"Boo." Karna booed.

"OH COME ON! I WAS ALSO SAVING THAT ONE FOR CALVARY TOURNAMENT!" Alois protested.

"Then drop all the horse-related puns to spare all of us from the agony of your incessant puns, Sir Knight." Karna pointed out.

"Oh... all right." Alois moped. "At least that's an excuse to come up with new material..."

The white-armored knight walks out the door.

"So..." Manuela looked at Karna. "You're that... Cyrus's student, correct?"

"And five other misfits in The Dustbin." Karna replied. "... By the way, the splint?"

"Oh, right."

Manuela then ties a metal brace around the youth's leg.

"I recommend crutches." Manuela stated. "Poor kid won't be able to walk for a while, so have him come by to my office at least once a week to speed up his healing process."

"Yes ma'am." Karna stated. "... So about the whole part of me leaving you wasted?"

"Don't fret." Manuela sighed out. "You're not the first one."

"May I accompany you to your next trip to the local pub?" Karna asked. "I mean, you seem to be the kind of person who ends up alone."

"Oh my, are you... coming onto me?" Manuela giggled.

"Not really, I just make it a priority to make sure that you don't end up faceplanted on the stone floors again." Karna replied with a teasing smirk. "No one deserves that."

"... Oh alright, I suppose you can come." Manuela replied. "But fair warning; I can hold my drink."

"I'll see you as soon then." Karna replied as he walked towards the door. "Oh and forgot to mention, I'm Karna Yuga, the new Professor of The Dustbin."

The cloaked man then walks out the door, shutting it behind him.

"... The Dustbin?" Manuela wondered as she saw Cyrus. "... It seems that Professor Karna is more... interesting than I thought."

Outside the halls, Karna runs into a scholarly-looking gray-haired man with a monocle over one of his eyes.

"... You there." The man spoke out to Karna as the latter passed by him.

"Yes?" Karna replied. "To what pleasure do I owe you?

"Two things." The man stated. "Firstly, my name is Hanneman von Essar, and I'm a Crest Scholar. I've heard from Seteth that your Crest is an... _anomaly_."

"Meaning?" Karna replied plainly, clearly losing interest in his conversation.

"The Timotheos Crest quite rare, you see. But for it to randomly manifest at a young age? Now that, I cannot ignore!" Hanneman spoke out in a energized tone. "Please, you must let me study your Crest, for I must know how it manifested, and all of the potential that it withholds!"

"... Yeah, no." Karna bluntly replied. "Just what am I getting out of this? I already have one student with a leg brace, and five others to teach tomorrow. I don't have time to play being your lab rat."

"Fair enough, it seems that you have your hands full." Hanneman sighed out. "Which brings me to my second concern; just what is your motive with Manuela?"

"Pure ones, I assure you." Karna reassured. "I mean, if you're worried, you can come along if you wish-"

"No, that's not it." Hanneman cut Karna off. "... Look, all I'm saying is, just make sure that she doesn't make herself more of a mess then she already is, and that goes double for you, Professor."

"Noted." Karna stated. "I'll see myself out before you start sticking needles into me..."

Karna briskly runs off.

"... WAIT! I ASSURE YOU, IT'S ONLY A SMALL PRICK TO THE THUMB!"

Hanneman then breaking into running speed towards Karna's direction.

"THAT'S EVEN WORSE!" Karna yell across the distance.

* * *

_**One Screaming and Running Later...**_

* * *

"PROFESSOR KARNA!?" Hanneman yelled out. "WHERE ARE YOU!? I MUST FIND YOU BEFORE MY AFTERNOON CLASS STARTS! MY OFFICE HOURS ONLY LAST ABOUT 10 TO 14!"

Karna himself was submerged inside the fishing pond underneath the wooden dock.

_"10 to 14, he said?"_ Karna thought. _"That's fine. I can hide all day."_

He himself was calmly breathing in this murky dim underbelly of the Fishing Pond's pier.

Karna continues to listen out for the eccentric professor's clacks of his boots, waiting for them cease so that Karna himself can get back to his priorities.

That, and Karna prefers to bleed on his own terms. He'll avoid bleeding if he can help it.

Then as he floated, several fish begin to brush aside his legs.

"What are you looking at?" Karna muttered to himself, realizing that the fish in the pond were concentrating towards him. "*Sigh* Look, I don't plan to eat you folk, so do all of us a favor, and leave."

The fish swim away from the hooded professor as the Monastery's bells ring.

"... I suppose it is safe to come out now."

Karna then silently swam back ashore, with no one looking towards his way, despite himself being dripping wet and soggy all over.

"Eh, not my first time in the water, fully clothed." Karna muttered to himself. "... Still, for me to run into such kook, how unfortunate-"

His leg bumps into something, followed with the sounds of objects dropping onto the cobblestone ground.

"Oh, so sorry!" A young female voice called out apologetically.

Karna looks at who he's bumped into, a lithe young woman with curled mint-green hair, her outfit being only reminiscent of the student's uniform, only more... pouffier.

"No need, little lady." Karna assured. "I already had a busy enough day as is."

"Oh, so sorry." The girl apologized once again as she picked up the books and fishing rods that she was carrying. "Well, I hope you have a better day later down the line!"

"Name's Karna, I'm the new professor here." Karna greeted.

"I'm Flayn, nice to meet you professor." Flayn replied. "See you soon!"

The mint-haired girl then walks away towards elsewhere.

"Hmm, nice enough girl." Karna mused. "Now where was I... Oh right, the classroom."

Karna briskly walks back to where the stables were at, only to run into Byron.

"Pardon me, Byron." Karna stated to the dark-haired lad. "But did you managed to clear out the classroom?"

"... About that." Byron's eyes shifted towards the side.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that something had happened.

"... Oh dear goddess, kill me now."

The two find themselves standing before the shutter doors, only the classroom itself being now in a even _bigger mess_ than before.

"You have exactly ten seconds to tell me what in the actual hell happened here while I was gone." Karna spoke to Byron.

"It turns out that those desks were dumped in there in the first place." Byron pointed out. "Also, I found this little bugger crawling around on the pages of the book I was reading, the ones that Seteth approves, that is."

Between his fingers, a small, pea-sized white-amber-colored insect was flailing its legs around, struggling to break free.

"_Termites_? Really?" Karna pointed out the absurdity. "How many?"

"Not much, they were only infesting the bookshelves that the Church threw into the Dustbin last month." Byron pointed out. "Thankfully, Sorcha managed to locate the nest and kill the queen and children, but by that point, the classroom had to be turned upside down to kill the remaining termites crawling around."

"I'll get the pesticide." Karna sighed out. "Meanwhile, use this on any intact wooden furniture."

He then hands the youth a glass bottle filled with a translucent-amber colored liquid and a brush from his pocket.

"What's this?" Byron asked.

"Almyran Orange Vinegar." Karna pointed out. "Was going to use that for my dinner tonight, but I think I can go for another powder mixture. That, and right now, the classroom's general functionality is the top priority. Apply one drop on the brush, and slather the coated bristle over the wooden surface until it stops smelling sour. Rinse and repeat until every last intact furniture smells rancid, or if you run out, my advice is to keep the shutter doors open. Termites hate sunlight. Oh and one last thing, keep them away from my backpack, there are memories of my travels in there, and I rather not lose them before I get my own office."

"Got it." Byron stated as he went down the shutter. "Pesticide is at the Greenhouse, next to the Fishing Pond."

Karna then heads back to where he came from, but this time, heading to the glass house adjacent to the artificial body of water.

Inside, Karna finds himself in company of several rare foliage and flora from all corners of Fodlan, and one amber-skinned boy watering the plants.

"Um, excuse me." Karna asked the boy.

"Oh, you need something from here?" The boy replied.

"Y-Yes. I'm looking pesticide." Karna asked. "Classroom's littered with termites, and I can't exactly teach when the desks are on the verge of falling apart."

"Sorry. Just used the last of em' to fend off the grubs off of our strawberries." The boy apologized. "But if you're looking for pest control, I think the Dining Hall's kitchen just restocked some red wine vinegar from the Adrestian Empire last week, so they should have plenty."

"Thanks, umm... what's your name?" Karna asked.

"Cyril." The boy plainly replied. "Now if you excuse me, I have to procure some pegasi manure from the stables. Lady Rhea likes the garden's plants to be fresh and supple as possible."

_"Hm, never took her for a plant lover, as evident by her skin-deep serene facade of hers__... That and the fact that she's probably packing enough muscle underneath her garments to make any man blush in envy." _Karna thought to himself as his wrist throbbed. "Name's Karna, and again, thank you."

The boy simply ignores the cloaked man as Cyril simply walked by him.

"... Hm, seems the little Almyran has more of a story to him." Karna mused. "Perhaps, I may pry in a bit more about him... at a later date, or at least when he's not working himself to an early grave, of course."

So as Karna runs towards the Dining Hall besides the Fishing Pond, he enters into an wide open space laid with rows of dining tables and benches, all being set up by several of the waiting staff, all preparing for tonight's supper.

"Excuse me." Karna asked one of the woman by the kitchen's entrance. "I've heard that you have some vinegar available. Can you spare a bottle or two? I need them for the termite infestation back at my classroom."

"Sure, they're at the back, second top shelf to the right."

Karna then enters the kitchen, looks up towards the shelves right above the counter, and takes two clay gourds of rich-scented vinegar with him.

As he walked out of the Dining Hall, he then sniffs the bottle.

"... Yep, strong enough to wake the dead." Karna grinned as he walked back to where the Dustbin was at. "Hopefully, the classroom doesn't on fire as soon as I get there..."

He then walks past several students, all of them being repelled by the scent emitted from the bottles.

"Ugh, what's that smell?"

"Who's that guy anyway? He's dripping wet..."

"He looks a little placid..."

Karna himself was no stranger to gossipy hens like those curious youths he's currently walking by. They themselves don't know any better, so of course they would start making assumptions without basis.

He himself had nothing against that, only that they may learn afterwards, no matter how high the bar may be.

"Honestly, the Alliance Noblemen think Almyrans are backwards..." Karna muttered to himself. "Clearly, they don't see the whole 'backwards' that is present in Fodlan..."

He kept going down the halls with jars in hand, passing by Alois, and two familiar people.

The grizzled looking mercenary that he'd met back at the tavern.

And the same female sellsword that took his job in the first place, her expression being stuck on neutral as she conversed with the grizzled mercenary.

_"... Are they somehow... related?"_ Karna thought of the two passing by him._ "I see no resemblance between the two, but that's a pursuit for another time. Hopefully, this place has a teacher's lounge... with coffee that doesn't taste like boiled mud. Nevermind that two mercenaries are somehow high up on this prestigious institution..."_

Karna lets out a sigh as he heads back to the Dustbin.

"Professor!"

In front of Karna, Selene approaches him in urgency.

"What's going on?" Karna asked the girl with the wing tattoo. "And what's the urgency-"

He then hears the other students from the Dustbin bursting out of the shutter doors in panic screams, which is then followed up by a sound of something collapsing.

"No no no no noNONONONO!"

Karna drops the vinegar bottle on the floor, shattering them as he took off on a sprint.

Once he reaches the shutter, standing amidst the kicked-up dust bowl, surrounded by the coughing and hacking students of the Dustbin.

Karna looks into the shutter hole, only to find it completely caved in.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Karna roared out as he fell to all of his fours. "YOU MANIACS! YOU BLEW IT UP! OH DAMN YOU! DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL!"

"Speak for yourself!" Byron protested. "MY BOOKS ARE LOST FOREVER!"

All the students of the Dustbin all stood before the collapsed shutter hole in disbelief.

"... Well in hindsight, I kinda saw this one coming." Topaz admitted.

Vidar grunts in agreement as he scratches his bandaged head.

"Well, that doesn't change the fact that we have no classroom now." Sorcha pointed out. "That, and well, the Adrestian pricks have more reason to ridicule us even further."

Karna himself was completely lost for words as only one thought permeated in his mind.

_"Just how long will my __misfortunes will be prolonged?"_

He's going to have to talk to Seteth, _again_.

"How unfortunate..." Karna groaned out as the dust begins to cease. "Well at least the worst is over-"

In front of him, a section of the stone walls of a faculty building collapses, exposing Hanneman on the other side.

"... I _hate_ today." Karna droned out in resignation. "I want to go bed and never come back out."

To hell with Seteth. Now _Rhea_ needs to get involved for this cacophony of a institutional logistic disaster.

* * *

**_To Be Continued..._**

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Yep. It's_ that_ kind of story.

Karna is basically my caricature of every unfortunate predicament that I have gone through for the past few years.

Nothing personal, but I thought it be kinda funny in hindsight.

Don't worry, that itself won't affect the story that I plan down the line, but remember, this is meant to be a comedy.

... Or at least until the timeskip, in which to those who've played the game, you know what I'm talking about.

Also, kinda spoiled myself on the Cindered Shadows DLC, and sufficed to say, I was surprised, in all the right and wrong ways.

Opinions may vary depending on personal preference.

So, what do you think of this chapter?

Will Karna continued to be the chew toy of this story? Or will he at least get a classroom by the end of the first weekend off?

Please leave a comment or a review, for I'd love to know what my audience are thinking!


	4. Day 4: Night School Part 1

**The Dustbin**

**Day 4: Night School (Part 1)**

* * *

**26th of the Great Tree Moon, Evening**

* * *

"... Please tell me that you were born _cursed_, Professor Yuga." Seteth sighed out. "At least that way, I can_ somewhat_ excuse you of your... _frequent_ misgivings."

Once again, Karna was now in Seteth's study with the rest of the students, sans Cyrus, currently trying to amend their worsening situation of their... _complicated_ logistical disaster.

"If I said no, would you believe me?" Karna pointed out.

"Nevermind, I must be going insane having to deal with you and your herd of cats that you call students..." Seteth grumbled out. "Part of the reason why I just cannot send these kids back home is that one of them no longer has a family to go back to..."

"Oi, I'm standing right here." Byron spoke out before he buried his face behind the book labeled "The Wayward Chronicles".

"The other, we don't even know where he used to live..."

Vidar lets out a small grunt before scratching his bandages wrapped around his head.

"Those two are literally political hostages..."

Sorcha and Selena exchanged looks with each other before shrugging.

"The other's too dangerous to let run loose..."

Topaz flips off Seteth.

".. Point is, as much as me and the rest of the board would like to just up and throw these kids out, we afford to, for several reasons." Seteth pointed out. "Not only we'd be sending these kids to their certain deaths, which would drastically damage our PR, but Lady Rhea insists that no one should be forsaken lest they stray from the will of the Goddess. Regardless of my personal feelings on the matter, I'm willing to help aid your situation, despite you, Professor Karna Yuga, have proven to be a literal, _walking disaster area_!"

"I have no excuses nor apologizes." Karna replied. "I've been through so many perilous travels that I kind of forgotten how that other people aren't as used to danger as I am."

Seteth grumbles on his desk before face back towards the cloaked professor.

"... I'm going mad." Seteth grumbled to himself. "I'm going mad just having to deal with you and your-"

Suddenly, the Archbishop enters the office.

"L-Lady Rhea!" Seteth greeted and bowed.

"At ease, Seteth." She replied. "... Is something troubling you?"

"If that's the case, I'm willing to help him in return." Karna interjected. "I have an extremely-strong blend of Almyran Coffee Blend that's bitter enough to wake the dead, or an extremely-potent concoction of tranquilizer that could even make the most obsessive of workaholics sleep like babies, a guaranteed 10 perfect hours of uninterrupted sleep. Either option is welcome to your desk jockey here, if he continues to aid me in my... current gripes."

"So negotiations are going poorly then." Rhea pointed out. "... You really are a unique case, aren't you?"

"Did you know that my time at the Adrestrian Empire wasn't full of my misfortunes, or at least, as much as it shouldn't?" Karna pointed out. "Even I myself was surprised that I managed to get my own lab there without anything exploding around me for three years straight. In a two mile radius, there was one laboratory that did explode on the other side of Embarr, but I was by the city gates, so I'm not the who started the fire, I assure you."

"Would've it killed if you stayed there?" Seteth pointed out, his tone grinding at the last dredges of his patience. "At least that way, we wouldn't have to pave another wall..."

"Now that I think about it..." Byron interjected as he closed his book. "... How did a structurally-sound bulwark collapse after the sub-basement under it caved in?"

Vidar grunts while shrugging.

"... I'm no bloomin' architect." Sorcha dismissively remarked.

"Sorry... I'm just as clueless as everyone else." Selene apologized.

"Might've been the termites." Topaz pointed out. "The desks were practically carrying the said infestation when they were thrown into the basement as disposal, am I wrong?"

Everyone in the room turns their heads towards the diminutive Almyran.

"... Just what are you implying?" Seteth asked.

"Someone wanted this to happen." Topaz pointed out. "Think about it, those desks were to be disposed, correct?"

"Yes." Rhea answered. "All equipment that are to be disposed as firewood if timber, or be donated to the local blacksmiths as raw material."

"... Desk jockey."

"You may me Seteth." The man behind the desk pointed out.

"Seteth." Topaz spoke out. "Just for the past month, who was in charge of the garbage disposal?"

"Usually, we have the pages do in the monastery to the labor..." Seteth pointed out. "... But in regards to distribution, we usually give that responsibility to the students as part of their _logistics course_."

"Just what the bloody 'ell's that?" Sorcha asked.

"It's an officer's academy." Byron answered. "Logistics and distribution is an essential part of warfare and land management, and they technically do commoner's work without getting their silk-gloved hands dirty. So much for dirty work humbling the nobles with that little loophole present..."

"So you're assuming that someone bribed them?" Karna pointed out.

"Impossible." Rhea remarked. "They've taken the goddess's words to heart, so surely they won't partake in such sinful actions..."

Karna then stares at the Archbishop with a judgmental look in his eyes.

"... Archbishop, the oldest of those pages are 13. I would know, because I ran into an Almyran kid in the Greenhouse." Karna pointed out. "Fact of the matter, minority or majority, they're still _kids_. They're still prone to naivety and simple bribes to be suckered into whoever's whims possible. Now, I'm not saying that they're untrustworthy. Far from it, actually, but it's because the _opposite_ is true."

"They're overly trusting, that's what you're implying, Professor?" Byron asked.

"That is correct." Karna replied. "But still, it can be hypothesized that whoever was in charge of the garbage disposal for the past month might've coaxed those pages to put the termite-infested desks into the basement."

"... Now that I think about it, it seemed rather odd that perfectly-looking desks would end up in the The Dustbin." Selene pointed out. "As if someone_ wanted_ us to have it..."

All of the people inside the study go silent in thought.

"... Well, I suppose we can begin the investigation tomorrow-"

"No." Karna pointed out. "We strike now."

"But Professor! You do realize that it's nighttime, correct!?" Rhea pointed out. "Surely, you're not thinking of barging into their-"

"Look Lady Archbishop." Karna retorted with a glare. "Whoever put an entire termite nest into the basement where you and the educational board put them in, they were trying deliberately to kill them under a pretense of an accident."

"How so?" Seteth asked. "Is there any evidence of such thing?"

"Plenty." Byron interjected. "From what I've heard, the garbage disposal schedule was the perfect cover to concoct any scheme involving anyone who clearly has an agenda against us. And as far as I can recall, the only students that the board has graciously exiled us into the semi-basement that had bad blood with any of the previous students are..."

He then points towards the tattooed twins.

"Them." Byron pointed out. "Also worth mentioning, those two were ex-Black Eagles, meaning that the whole 'accident' implies _unfinished business_."

"And more time we give them, the more time they have to conflate their possible excuses or justifications." Topaz remarked. "Spare nigh a single unturned stone, that is our most ideal course of action."

"The nobles first." Karna stated. "Who are they and which house are they in right now?"

Seteth looks through his catalog and finds two names written down for the current month.

"Iago Romeo Macbeth and Hans Todeskampf Grosse." Seteth remarked. "Both of them being... Black Eagles."

"Judging by their names, I assume that they're nobility?" Byron pointed out. "I mean, only nobles have names that superfluous, I mean for goddess's sake, my name happens to be _Byron Amadeus Noa_! For goddess's sake, just call me Byron! That's enough of a name to get my attention, isn't not!?"

"... Ignoring that, just barging into their upper-floor dorms would cause unnecessary attentions, so we'll opt a more subtle approach." Karna remarked. "Sorcha, Selene, Topaz, scout the dorms for those two. Byron, Vidar, with me."

"Wait, Professor Yuga." Rhea interjected. "Before you do anything rash, please reconsider."

"Oh I'm being legitimate while remaining in my boundaries, Archbishop." Karna remarked. "Your job as headmistress is to make sure that everyone's getting along. My job as a Professor is to make sure they_ learn_. And besides, it's best if you stay out of this. Political clout aside, imagine what happens if word of students killing each other got out. Surely, that would not only get me fired, but probably for the rest of the staff uninvolved as well."

Rhea steps back upon hearing those words.

"... Are you... _blackmailing_ the Archbishop!?" Seteth barked out at the Professor's audacity.

"Oh, unfortunately, 'blackmail' is such an ugly word." Karna remarked with a sly grin. "... Call it a 'reality check'."

The Professor lets his students out of the study to do their thing.

"You'd expect that the students from formerly warring nations to get along, one being an empire that I happened to dodge multiple assassination attempts to secure my funding, the other being a nation responsible for a near-genocide of an indigenous ethnic group, and the third having the cohesion of which a tower of soggy biscuits can easily best." Karna pointed out. "Your job is to keep the peace between three nations? Go ahead, suck the three nations teats as long you're happy. My job for now?"

He then sticks head back into the study with the rest of him at the audience chamber.

"... I'll get this _dirty deed done dirt cheap_."

* * *

_**At the Page's ****Quarters...**_

* * *

"Alright, who's knocking?" Karna asked as he and the two students from Faerghus stood in front of a small dorm building.

"Definitely not Vidar." Byron pointed out. "Poor bastard's got the eyes of murderer and face that only his mother can love. No offense."

Vidar grunts in response.

"And definitely not you, Byron." Karna pointed out. "I happen to know your type. You hate kids, don't you?"

"I can stomach them, at best." The bookworm replied. "It's just that I've developed a reflex to stay away from them. For my book's sake."

"... Guess that leaves me, then." Karna remarked. "Thankfully, I just happened to know one of them that live here."

The professor knocks on the door, waiting for a response.

"... Hey so, why is Vidar's face bandaged?" Karna asked out loud.

"It's not_ just_ his face." Byron pointed out as Vidar nodded slightly.

"Then I shall refrain from asking for further details." Karna apologized.

The door opens, revealing Cyril.

"... You know the whole dorm goes lights out in five minutes, right?" Cyril glared at the Professor.

"Pardon me, but we only need to ask you boys a few questions." Karna pointed out as he stuck his foot between the door's gap. "Who was involved last month's garbage disposal? It seems that one of your fellow pages have been unwittingly carried out an attempted murder on one of my students via termites."

"... What?" Cyril gawked out in disbelief. "Fine fine, I'll ask the others-"

I'll be sure to leave the door open." Karna pointed out. "I only need one answer."

"... Fine." Cyril grumbled out. "Oi! Who was in garbage duty last month!?"

"It was me!" A youthful voice remarked.

"It was Pit." Cyril answered.

"I'll remember that." Karna remarked. "Apologizes for taking your time."

"And just in time too." Cyril remarked before he headed back into the dormitory. "Alright everyone, lights out!"

The doors shut in front of the three as all lights in the dorms flicker out for the night.

"... Well that was surprisingly easy." Byron pointed out.

Vidar grunts in agreement.

"That was meant to be easy." Karna pointed out. "The hard part is finding the actual suspects."

"But we can leave it to the three girls, right?" Byron asked.

"That's no excuse to do some footwork of our own." Karna replied. "Come now. The game's afoot."

"... Oh! You've just quoted Herlock Sholmes from 'Face of a Thousand, Mind the One: The Great Game of Wits'!"

"Wait what?" Karna asked. "You mean the book that was filed several lawsuits for copyright infringement?"

"Still liked the story, though, especially during that freight ship climax."

* * *

_**At the Upper Student Dorms...**_

* * *

"For the record, me and my sis only spent one week in these godforsaken dorms before we got evicted." Sorcha pointed out to Topaz, while the three of them were above the dorm's ceiling peeking through a gap formed, noticed by no one.

"Well, whatever works." Topaz remarked quietly. "Assassinations back at Almyra were often crapshoot, with counter-assassins, false informations, and leaked plans. I swear, sometimes I wondered if the Hassan is trying to kill me off."

"Did the Hassan have any reason to?" Selene asked.

"He didn't need one." Topaz replied. "Us assassins were _expected_ to die in the line of duty eventually. _'Live by the sword, die by the sword'_. That's the creed that me and the other kids lived by."

"Shh, they're here!" Sorcha shushed at the two before they looked down at the gap.

The three spot two students, one being a tall and lean male youth with slightly pale skin and black hair that resembles uprooted seaweed, while the other was built like a stone fort, with not a single hair on his head. Both of them had a natural sneer on their faces, the pale one was carrying a thick tome around his arms while the big one had his arms crossed across his burly chest.

"... Doesn't those two remind you of someone?" Sorcha remarked. "I can't be the only one, can I?"

"Shh." Topaz shushed. "Focus on the mission at hand."

The three then see the two Black Eagles look around the halls before entering into a room together.

"... That seems odd." Topaz remarked. "... It's only about a few minutes before lights out, so why are they risking such action?"

"1000 Gold says that those eejits are up to somethin'." Sorcha pointed out. "How do we follow em'?"

"This way."

The three then crawl across the darkness and find themselves above a rather... _alarming_ conversation.

_"... So, that plan was a bust."_

_"Yeah, guess we can't trust those brats with anything."_

_"No no, they did their job properly. It's just a stroke of luck that the twins survived."_

_"So what now, mister __genius? If the Crown Princess catches us in the act, our heads are gonna be rollin' off of the executioner's whetstone!"_

_"Fret not, dear Todeskampf. We will fulfill our mission to annihilate Brigid and Dagda off the map just as our families desired so decades back. We just need to find a different approach."_

_"Why not just hire a few sellswords and let em gut em for us?"_

_"And have the transactions traced back to us? Hardly. We need to do this right, so we must do this deed ourselves. Have faith, Hans."_

_"... Guess I got no choice but to let the genius do the job, eh?"_

_"Lest thy name is not Iago Romeo Macbeth."_

The three look at each and nod in agreement.

"It's them." Topaz remarked. "... Although the way they managed to go this far to keep their trail cold is quite impressive."

"Can you stop being impressed with the ones who tried to kill off me and my sis off and just jump em right now?" Sorcha asked. "If they wanna scrap with us, we'll give em one."

"... Um, won't that make our situation way worse than it is?" Selene pointed out. "I mean, we're in the dorms so making noise seems rather... ill-advised especially during this time of day."

"She has a point." Topaz remarked. "So we'll have to confront them separately."

Below them, the three overhear the rest of the conversation.

_"Well, it's kinda getting late, Mr. Genius. You gonna hit the sack anytime soon?_

_"So says the one who stays up until morning. You really gotta kick that habit of yours."_

_"Well, no rest for the wicked."_

_"Right back at ya, beansprout."_

_"Well, off you go then. Go ahead and chase around the Abyss for all I care, but do try to arrive on time for the morning classes."_

_"Yeah, yeah... Geez, are you my mum or something?"_

_"You're a friend, Hans. I have to make sure that you're well."_

The three then hear the doors open and close beneath them.

"... Sorcha, Selene, you two follow the musclebound one." Topaz stated. "I'll deal with the bookworm not on our side."

Topaz then brandishes her knife.

"... Quietly and discreetly as possible."

The twins look at each other in befuddlement before turning away from the Almyran assassin and out towards where Hans was walking away towards.

"... Perhaps it's too late to point out that I'll try and curb my old habits?"

* * *

**_To Be _****_Continued..._**

* * *

**Author's Notes: **So a few things happened on why I had to hold this fic off.

One, been _really_ busy writing other fics. Particularly the Apocrypha and CotWTH.

Two, I had to plan out the whole mini-conspiracy to make it concrete as possible.

And three, I saw the let's play for the Cindered Shadows DLC to make an assessment before I bought it, and nope, it's not worth the price (and FUCK the Golems) for me, so I'll buy it later if I have nothing better to buy off.

Also, yes, Iago and Hans are pseudo-transplanted characters from Fates, with the former's full name referencing Shakespeare's works like Othello, Romeo & Juliet, and Macbeth (in that order), while Hans is a bit of a tribute to Wolfenstein, particularly Hans Grosse from the original PC version and the 2009 remake. _Todeskampf_ means "Death Match" in German, so yeah, nice guy (NOT).

Also, the more I go over this, the more I try to make this a "short-story" format per chapter. I dunno, might write this once and a blue moon. Until then, here's a short investigation arc for why the whole classroom when literally six feet under.

... We'll see how this goes.


	5. Day 5: Night School Part 2

**The Dustbin**

**Day 5: Night School (Part 2)**

* * *

**26th of the Great Tree Moon, Late Night**

* * *

"Professor Yuga..." Byron asked as the three of them hustled down the darkly-lit halls.

"Talk to me." Karna replied, tugging onto the rim of his hood while running down the halls, their heels clacking against the mason and plank floor alike.

"... Should we prove the two to be guilty behind our attempted mass murder, just what is stopping them from rigging the trial against us, and potentially costing your career?" Byron pointed out.

"Well, that's all part of my plan." The hooded professor replied confidently. "... Don't let anyone else know about it. Vigilante justice, the best kind of justice. Mainly because of less paperwork being involved."

Vidar just lets out a small grunt as he followed behind the student with his coat hanging around his shoulders.

"... I swear." Karna grimaced. "I'm grateful that the Adrestian Empire did provide me with funding for my research for Magical Advancement, but even then, they seem to want to kill each other at a moment's notice... This is why I hate politics, it's a complete waste of everyone's time!"

"I second that." Byron remarked. "... It is sort of odd how the Faerghus sort of swept the deaths of my entire family under the rug... alongside with the whole so-called 'Tragedy of Duscur' clearly being an_ inside-job_."

"And what made you come to that conclusion?" Karna asked.

"For one, unlike other Faerghus residents, I actually studied Duscurian culture and mindset." Byron remarked. "To them, assassinations and murder are according to their beliefs, are the pinnacle of cowardice, and condemns that soul to the embrace of a dark goddess known as Hel, the _Death Sovereign_. Their soul will be fed to the Garmr, her pet hounds, and the physical body left behind will become a part of her Dragurs, Hel's army of the undead that will rampage throughout the world of the living in the coming _Røkkr_, also known as either 'Twilight' or 'The Day of Reckoning'."

"... Hm, impressive, Mr. Amadeus Noa." Karna complimented. "Where did you learn of Duscurian culture and belief? Even Faerghus's Magic Academies don't have a single text mentioning those. That and well... they don't get along and all."

"... Truth is, after I lost my home, I lived among them." Byron remarked. "After everything that my people have done to them, I'd expected them to feed me to the dogs. But no, they spared me, only because I was only around like what? 5 or 6 years old?"

"... Killing children... bad." Vidar heaved out between his bandaged lips. "... Byron... told me... so."

"Moral lessons aside, methinks that the best course of action right now is to find the conspirators behind this little incident, and possibly stop a potential war from igniting." Karna remarked as he ran down the halls. "... That and well, you'd think that people would have the modicum of basic decency to not start a war while school is in session."

"I admire your prioritization towards the practical, professor." Byron complimented. "... Just like how I lived after my whole family went up into flames."

"Speaking of practical, Mr. Amadeus Noa, I recommend that you keep your conversation to yourself." Karna pointed out. "Right now, we are in amidst of a hot pursuit."

"Right, apologizes."

* * *

**Outside of the Upper Dorms...**

* * *

The McCarthy twins stealthily follow the bald head of Hans, gleaming in the moonlight from above, his massive frame of muscle bursting through his uniform, his coat hanging from his fingers behind his back.

"... Oi oi oi, just how much wax does he even use for that head of his?" Sorcha asked her twin sister. "... No seriously, that head of his is like the sun."

Selene simply shrugs right before sneaking behind another cover.

Sorcha then spots two guards patrolling the monastery, signaling her twin to keep low until they pass.

As the guards pass, the twins then take off their shoes to avoid their heels clacking against the stone floor, and as the guards pass, the two hastily tiptoe by the passing guards, both holding onto their boots before ducking behind another cover.

"He's headin' into the trainin' grounds..." Sorcha remarked as she put her boots back onto her feet. "... Who's the shorty at the door?"

Selene peeks above her cover and finds a short, spunky-looking male youth with clean-cut turquoise hair waving at Hans.

"Yo, Hans!" The youth greeted the bald student. "You really came!"

"Yeah, well, it's kinda getting late." Hans replied as he looked around his surroundings, causing the twins to duck under cover to avoid detection. "... Come on, Casper, you ain't gonna get any taller if you're a night owl."

"Oh come on, I'm still growing!" Casper remarked. "But enough of that, let's get a round in before the guards show up!"

"Right right, come on, [Training Gauntlets] on, kiddo." Hans replied as the two went into the academy's training grounds. "... Don't collapse after one punch."

"Peh, I've doubling my training since I got here!"

The doors shut, leaving the two to wonder what their next course of action is.

"... Do we sneak in?" Sorcha asked. "Or do we wait here?"

Selene points to the hut right above-adjacent to the training grounds.

"... Alright, we'll get a better view from up there." Sorcha remarked. "Lene, you lead."

* * *

**Back at the Upper Dorms...**

* * *

For the past half-hour, Iago hasn't even moved out of his room, still glued to his desk and chair, candlelight still lit, and reading through the text that he had on his person.

Topaz was no stranger to waiting for long periods of time, in fact, she oddly finds herself getting really comfortable in her position right above the Black Eagle's head.

She faintly sniffs the air coming from Iago's room, picking up a slight scent of rosemary coming from the room below.

_"... Must be the candles." _Topaz thought as he peered down from the ceiling vents from above. _"... Fodlan is quite ingenious to have candles that also act as incenses."_

Still, the scent also helped the little Hashashin keep herself awake and alert as well, aiding her mission to keep an eye out on this elusive student of the Black Eagles.

Suddenly, she hears knocking coming from Iago's door, causing Topaz to cease peeking and switch to listening.

_"One sense at a time."_ Topaz thought as she laid her ear against the ceiling's inner hollow._ "Do not take in more than you need."_

_"Come in." _Iago's voice spoke out, followed up by a creaking of the door's hinges and a slight yawn.

_"Good evening..." _A sleepy voice yawned out. _"... You have the materials for my research?"_

_"Top shelf, second book towards the right."_ Iago spoke to his visitor, his voice indicating not a single lapse in his focus._ "... Honestly Lindhardt, your naps are going to be the end of you someday. Take care of yourself properly, you're a noble, aren't you?"_

_"Yeah well, I really don't see the point of formalities as long as no one's around to judge me..." _Lindhardt's voice yawned out as the sound of a book being removed from its shelf was heard. _"... Plus, my naps function as a way to take care of myself. I mean, I saw Casper sneak out of his curfew just to get one more round in. Honestly, if you need to be worried about anyone's well-being, it's him."_

_"Such is the life of the son of the Empire's Minister of Military."_ Iago remarked as Topaz hears the flip of his text's page._ "... I do admire his drive though, considering his... circumstances. Don't get me wrong, I'm not insulting him or anything. I'm legitimately impressed."_

_"Well, it my job to make sure that he lives long enough to see his efforts come into fruition." _Lindhardt remarked as Topaz hears the thumps of his boots heading elsewhere, followed up by the creaking of the doorknob. _"... Above everything else, I believe that no one should die meaninglessly."_

_"Death is a tragedy, no matter what circumstances may befall it." _Iago remarked, with Topaz trying to push aside her thoughts of mentally pointing out his statement's hypocrisy, as she was taught by the Hassan to suppress her emotions whenever it doesn't involve her personally. _"... Take care, understood?"_

The sound of the door shutting was then heard, leaving Topaz to wonder what her next course of action would be.

_"Should I cut and run, or keep listening in?"_ Topaz pondered._ "I still need to keep an eye on him, but at the same time, I need to make sure that I avoid detection."_

She then decides to listen through the ceiling for a few moments before taking her next course of action.

_"... I'll wait for him at the end of the hall."_ Topaz thought as she shifted her tiny body around the ceiling hollows before crawling back outside._ "At least I'll be detected later than now."_

Topaz then crawls out of the loose roof tile and sneaks across the open rooftop and began looking down at the halls around the dorms from above.

_"Keep an eye out for any potential openings while giving none..."_ Topaz thought. _"They may look at the ground, but that doesn't mean that they won't look towards the sky."_

She then closes her eye for a brief moment, and hears the sounds of a window clicking open.

Topaz peers down, and finds an improvised rope made of rags fall down out of the window with the open shutters, and saw Iago, with a cloth back tied around his back, shimmy down from the rope, and upon his heels hitting the ground, he took off towards the dark halls, heading towards the monastery's entrance.

"... I should go find the others." Topaz remarked to herself. "... But at the same time, I need to make sure to keep an eye on him."

She then visualizes a path for both, arcing her vision towards the greenhouse's rooftops and the buildings structure around it acting as her next path forward.

_"... I should be able to see everything from up there." _Topaz thought. _"Should I get __caught, I'll simply jump over to the other side."_

She then takes off towards the greenhouse's roof, going around Iago's direction of his stride and keeping overwatch of him, potential guards, and for the professor spearheading this game of cat and mouse.

Normally, the glass ceiling would break under anyone jumping onto it, but Topaz's constitution shaped by her brutal training regimen from the Hashashin to be utilitarian as physically possible.

In other words, she herself was rather light and had perfect control on how much muscle can she exert throughout her body, so landing on glass panes while fully-dressed in these stuffy Garreg Mach uniforms without breaking through them...

*thump*

... Was rather a simple matter.

The chase was now afoot. And all she had to do, was not get caught, just like her last attempt, where she had most of her equipment confiscated, and possibly destroyed.

* * *

**_Outside the Training Grounds..._**

* * *

"Wait, aren't the sparring grounds supposed to be closed during curfew?" Byron pointed out as he, Vidar, and Professor Karna Yuga heard grunting coming through the doors behind the training grounds.

Vidar simply grunts with a shrug.

"Well, rules aren't really rules without the rule breakers." Karna pointed out. "... I mean, we're under that umbrella, right?"

"Fair enough." Byron replied before looking towards the wooden hut upstairs adjacent to the training grounds, spotting the McCarthy twins peeking behind one of the covers provided. "... Wait, aren't those two-"

He then spots Sorcha waving at him, followed up by her pointing towards the door.

"... So one of them is in there." Byron remarked. "... We got the names, but which is Iago, and which is Hans?"

A loud thud was then heard through the doors, followed up by a strained groan.

_"You're pushin' yourself too hard, kiddo." _A gruff male voice spoke through the doors. _"Footwork's good and all, but you swing your arms too widely. Go for quick successive jabs rather than heavy punches. Just because you're smaller than me doesn't mean you have to match me in brute strength."_

_"Haah... __haah... Easy for you to say." _A younger male voice replied in a tired manner. _"... Can't get stronger when I don't take risks. Thought I tried something out of my comfort zone."_

_"Not gonna lie, you're in right state of mind..."_ The gruff voice remarked._ "... But instead of practicing 10,000 punches once, how about you practice 1 punch 10,000 times?"_

_"What? Then how am I supposed to lift that arm afterwards!?"_ The younger voice pointed out._ "... Wait, is this all part of some big training regiment? Is that why your arms are so damn huge like Raphael's?"_

_"... Yeah, sure."_ The gruff voice sighed out sardonically._ "To be fair, the big kid from the Leister Alliance knows how to play to his strength, like the rest of his peers. Although take it from me, do NOT challenge him to an eating contest. You will regret it."_

_"I'll take that as a challenge!"_ The younger voice remarked._ "If I beat him, then that means I'll beat you too!"_

_"Yeah, sure. Go ahead." _The gruff voice replied as the doors of the training grounds opened, revealing a giant bald male and a short, sky-blue haired youth walking out, the latter being covered in bruises all over his face and arms. "Til then, get some sleep. Good for the bones, at least for the ones that aren't possibly fractured."

"Alright, see you next time, Hans!" The short male remarked before taking off towards the upper dorms as the latter walked off towards the other direction after the former was out of sight.

"So that's Hans..." Karna remarked. "... He's pretty big. I'm surprised that those clothes even fit him."

"You'd be surprised what the academy can do to accommodate its students." Byron remarked. "Not a single expense, from education to fashion, was spared. Then again, accommodating nobility demands a high-profile upfront payment to begin with..."

Vidar then sticks out his tongue in disgust, agreeing with Vidar's remark.

"Well, geopolitics and price tags aside, I think we have more pressing matters ahead." Karna pointed out as he saw Hans walk towards the monastery's entrance gates while shifting his gleaming head side to side, as if looking out for anyone peeping at him. "... Remain vigilant, as norm."

Both nod in acknowledgement, as the three then begin trailing behind Hans under his nose.

On the way, the two students and the Professor see Sorcha and Selene hiding behind the empty vendor stalls, signaling each others' presences towards each other, with Karna himself noticing a small shadow maneuvering above the monastery rooftops, mentally noting her to be Topaz.

All of the Dustbin students and their Professor each hide behind either an empty vendor stall, a barrel, or behind the tarps, listening in on the two suspect's conversations.

_"... So, the plan failed?"_

_"To be fair, it was really spotty on whether it worked or not. Now we're left without a way forward, until you give us a next step for this little bottleneck."_

_"Spill it, string bean. We may be under our orders from our old men who really wants an excuse to set both Brigid and Dagda on fire, but we're under curfew, and if we get caught with our pants down, we're done."_

_"Alright, alright. Look, as far as the Empire is concerned, Brigid is practically under our thumbs now, but there have been rumors that a rebel coalition between Dagda and Brigid are amidst forming, and while normally, the Brigid princess would be axed in any attempts to dissuade any forms of rebellion, but current circumstances complicates the would-be manner."_

_"Then again, killing an important political hostage would be a rather negative press to the good faith that Brigid gave us..."_

_"... But then, the McCarthy twins and them injuring one of the noblemen kids from the Empire came to be."_

_"Perfect for scapegoating, for both accounts, don't your agree? Anywho, they got lucky this time, next time, we'll simply have to separate them from the rest of the group and set up an ambush in the mock battle. I'll contact the board representatives from the Empire to have them pull some strings for us."_

_"Wait, why you're telling us all this when we're not gonna do anything there?"_

"Because as far as I'm concerned, I think that's what the well-read people call 'Bold Villain Stupidity'."

The three then notice the hooded Professor along with the four glaring students besides the entryway of the monastery.

"Good evening, gentlemen." Karna sardonically greeted with a borderline-_fake_ smile on his face. "To what do you owe this night of conspiring to kill my students over some political malarky? If you're going to make a political statement, please, keep it out while the school year in session-"

Hans then tackles the professor aside as the other two run for it into the monastery, making their way through the gap formed by the burly Black Eagle student before he also took off.

"GET THEM!" Byron cried out as he was then picked up by Vidar and began their mad pursuit through the academy's hallways, with Karna running after them upon picking himself back up to his feet.

As they run through the halls, Hans and Iago knock over whatever was in their way. From barrels to even entire wagons, Vidar, even carrying Byron on his back, simply vaulted over the obstacles, with the McCarthy twins also vaulting over them, and Karna simply blasting them away with his [Miasma Δ], alerting all nearby patrol of guards from the sound of explosion of his magic.

_"Hey, what's going on there!?"_

_"We got an intruder! Move move!"_

_"I see something moving down there! Get em!"_

"Oh dear." Karna remarked to himself as he continued to run through the halls following the hot pursuit, now taking their chase through the faculty building, hopping over a knocked-down podium with a shattered vase laid in front of its base. "... Evidently, our culprit seems to be wise enough that when faced with no other options of covert escape, blatant escape is the option."

Ahead of the pursuit, Cyrus was stumbling down the hallway in his crutches, awoken by the shattering of the vase down the halls.

"... What's going on-"

"MOVE!"

*THUD*

... In an unexpected turn of events that literally no one saw coming, as Hans tried to shove aside the Almyran hostage, what happened instead was that the latter instead mounted onto Hans's body, dropping his crutches upon the collision of running himself into the fleeing giant Adrestian student, clinging onto his body like a bear climbing onto a tree's trunk.

"AIEEEEE!"

Even more amusingly, Hans, even with the equally-massive Cyrus clinging onto his head while screaming out in panic, the former Adrestian student didn't even slow down for a second's pace, and kept running forward like a runaway carriage rolling down a steep decline of a hill...

*CRASH*

... Before Hans himself, with Cyrus still clinging onto him for his dear life, jumped through the _second-floor_ window, breaking through the transparent barrier of molten-and-cooled sand, landing onto the stone bridge below, his feet imprinting a pair of feet into the masonry, before continuing to run off towards the main chapel in a blind attempt to flee his pursuers, despite one of them clinging onto his body like a tick.

"GET OFF OF ME, YA DAMN HORSE-MATER!" Hans barked out towards the still-screeching Almyran as he continued running with Iago and the cloaked stranger catching up to him by jumping out of the same window that Hans broke through.

The students of the Dustbin and their Professor did the same, with Vidar showing impressive physical prowess by landing on his feet after leaping off of the ledge carrying Byron in tow, the McCarthy twins displaying acrobatic moves by landing on the treetops before flinging themselves back onto the stone floor onto their feet like cats, and Karna himself rocketed forward off the air by firing [Miasma Δ] from both of his gloved hands, right before slowing his decent down with the same spell acting as a counter-propellent against the gravity pulling him down, lest he shatters both of his legs upon impact.

"DAMN IT! THEY'RE CATCHING UP!" Iago cried out. "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT, YOU PALE DASTARD!"

"I'M SIMPLY THE MESSENGER! I HAVE NO DIRECT INVOLVEMENT IN THIS MALARKY!" The cloaked man replied. "AND BESIDES, NOT EVERYONE EXCEPTS TO JUMP OUT OF A WINDOW AT A MOMENT'S NOTICE!"

"WILL YOU TWO PLEASE SHUT UP AND KEEP RUNNING, AND ALSO GET THIS SCREAMING OAF OFF OF ME-"

From the corner of his eye, Hans spotted a small girl with a skirt running down her ankles, a slit cut out on its side for her to reveal a band of sheathed daggers, with one of them empty of its blades carrying it, realizing that it was in her hand, above her head, and poised to stab down onto him upon landing.

*SHRUCK*

The dagger was then driven into his lower back, but all that did was simply slow Hans's running down, only by an _extremely_ small margin.

"WHAT!?" Topaz cried out now as she was now clinging onto the dagger driven into Hans's back as the latter kept running towards the chapel. "THAT WAS ENOUGH VENOM TO PARALYZE A WYVERN!"

"I'M NO WYVERN, SHIRMPCAKE!" Hans barked out as he kept running. "PASTY! DO IT!"

The cloaked man then pulls out a massive bundle of red rods tied together, each individual wick and fuse all tied into one combined fuse, and with his free hand, casts [Fire] to light the bundle of red rods before tossing it behind them and towards their pursuers.

"What the bloody 'ell is that!?" Sorcha cried out at the red bundle with the lit fuse in front of them.

"BOMB!" Karna cried out as he propelled himself ahead of the McCarthy twins and Vidar carrying Byron, grabbing the bomb, and throwing it off of the bridge-

*BOOM*

... But the bomb explodes before it can hit the water below, blasting off one of the scaffolding of the bridge, causing the stone bridge below them to start collapsing.

"RUN!" Karna barked out as he took off with his students behind him, with the stone bridge now collapsing behind their heels.

With the bridge collapsing in front of them, the monastery guards cease their pursuit, as the three culprits and their pursuers kept running ahead of them.

"... Son of whore." One of the guardsmen cursed out. "... So, who wants to report this to the Archbishop?"

* * *

_**At the Main Chapel...**_

* * *

"WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GET A _BLOODY_ BOMB!?" Iago remarked to the cloaked man.

"Almyra." The pale man plainly replied. "Blasting power from their cannons, dried lianes acting as containers, and a candle's wick coated with lamp oil. All of it, procured beyond Leister Alliance's borders. Do not underestimate the Empire's covert logistic network."

"YEAH, WELL, UNLESS YOU GOT A ROPE ON YA, WE'RE TRAPPED ON THIS PLATEU!" Hans barked out as he tried to pry off Cyrus off of his face and Topaz off of his knife-bedded back.

"I have a colored flare." The cloaked man remarked as he pulled out another wooden canister from his cloak. "If we make it in time, the Wyvern Knight I had camp out in the distance will come and pick us up-"

"GET BACK HERE!"

Behind the three of them, Karna, Vidar, Byron, Sorcha, and Selene were still running after the three of them, their faces and brows glistening with fresh sweat, their breaths strained from the period of running, and their expressions contorted to various degrees of frustration, sans Byron, who then shot a spire of ice from his open hand, breaking the container, and scattering the powder of colored chalk and black powder all over the chapel's floor.

"DAMMIT, I ONLY HAD THE ONE!" The cloaked man cursed. "CHANGE OF PLANS! WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO SWIM FOR IT!"

"ARE YOU NUTS!?" Iago cried out. "I CAN'T SWIM-"

Vidar then throws Byron across the chapel's halls, the latter landing on top of Iago and pinning him down.

"Gotcha." Byron declared.

"Unlikely." Iago retorted as he cased [Wind] from his hands, knocking Byron off of his back before the former took back off running.

"THEY'RE GETTING AWAY!" Byron cried out as he scrambled back up. "VIDAR! POUNCE THEM!"

The bandaged youth lets out a feral howl right before he sprang towards the three culprits in one final attempt to subdue them.

*BAM*

... But instead, Vidar overshot his jump's trajectory, and crashed headfirst into the wall ahead of them.

"AHAHAHAHA!" Iago cackled out. "WHAT ARE YOU EVEN TRYING TO DO-why does my feet feel really light all of the sudden?"

He then looks down, and found that the floor of the same hallway that everyone in the pursuit was running on had simply vanished, the only thing beneath them being the pitch-black void below.

"... Well, this is unfortunate." Karna deadpanned as he and everyone else plummeted towards the _abyss_ below.

The darkness surrounding them only echo their screams as they all plummet further and further down to the depths of the chapel's basement below, catching glimpse of dim candlelight and twisting halls that were illuminated from the distance as the tether known as "gravity" stung them all down deeper and deeper, sinking to the black below...

*THUD*

... As the light of day completely faded away. With the only thing that greeted them into this void was the impact akin to a charging bull hitting all of their backs.

Solid ground.

That was the only thing that they all felt before their senses gave out.

* * *

_**Outside of the Main Chapel...**_

* * *

"... You cannot be serious." Seteth grumbled out as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "You're telling me, that one of the intruders who was behind this little cockamamy scheme to assassinate two of this academy's students... was carrying _explosives_."

The guard nods in response.

"... Oh great, so that means that I'm going through an insomnia-induced hallucinations whenever I see THAT A PART OF OUR BRIDGE HAS COLLAPSED!?"

Nearly most of the faculty and a few students all gathered before the broken bridge. Some were aghast at what they can see so far, while a few more were fascinated on how such a mighty-looking bridge collapsed in the middle of the night.

Even the newest professor, Byleth Eisner, was completely baffled at what she saw, stone-faced as she may looked on the outside. Out of curiosity and slight impatience, she tugged onto her father's sleeve, Jeralt Eisner currently leading crowd control, which she then pointed towards the collapsed bridge.

"... Honestly, no clue on how some schmuck snuck an entire powder keg into this place." Jeralt remarked. "If anything, this night ain't gonna be easy despite there being no active bloodshed going on..."

She then walks back into the crowd, guiding the other students back to their dorms with the help of the other guards.

"Alright, show's over. Everyone, back to your rooms!" One of the guards spoke out as he rallied the students back to their dorms.

Byleth then runs into one her students in the Black Eagles, Edelgard von Hresvelg, the white-haired lass despite her below-average vertical stature, still emitting a commanding presence, despite being in her nightgowns, which she then converses with her of this situation.

"This situation is clearly bizarre..." Edelgard remarked to Byleth. "... Be wary, for even I cannot foresee what comes next."

At the ledge of the collapsed bridge, Seteth was on the verge of losing his cool, already thinking that Karna was a part of this little machination, intentional or otherwise.

"First, he's tardy, then, an entire classroom gets buried underground, and now, a conspiracy on top of a bomb..." Seteth grimaced. "... No, Seteth. No, you need to set a good standard to the other students and Flayn."

"What's going on here!?" Manuela remarked as she came out in her bathrobe with a masked face, a pair of cucumber slices over her eyes, and a towel tied around her hair.

"AHHHHHHHHH!"

"... Rude." Manuela scoffed as Seteth hyperventilated upon seeing Manuela's face. "... Maybe I should go to Hanneman and scare him for a bit... nah, not worth it."

* * *

**_Unknown Location_**

* * *

"Urghhh... ow..." Byron whimpered out as his body's nerves shocked him back to consciousness. "... I'm in pain... therefore... I'm alive... unfortunately."

Byron's eyes find themselves in the dimness of a cavern, his face caked in dirt and gravel, surrounded by his Dustbin peers, the three culprits, and his professor, all lying down on the stoney floors of the dim depths below the chapel.

"... Well, damn it all." Byron cursed as he spat onto the stone floor, which he then noticed that they were_ tiled_, as his spit landed into the crevice rather than a flat surface. "... Wait a minute, this isn't a cave's floor."

He then stands up, his legs wobbling from the previous impact hitting stone floor from goddess-knows how high the fall was. A miracle that none of his legs were broken, but still, they were hell to walk around in.

He sniffs the air around him, noticing a faint freshness running through the space. Then, a rat passes by his foot, indicating that this place can support life, despite its dark presence.

"... There's a way out." Byron remarked. "... 'As long as there is a single rat running about, that means there's still a chance to live through any crisis, no matter how dire it may look'."

Those words were from a Duscurian hunter-gatherer that took him in after his home was burnt down with his family and their Noa name.

"I can do this..." Byron remarked. "... I didn't come this far just to die in some pitch-black hole."

*CLUNK*

*whrrrrr*

*gling*

... A pair of glowing red pinpricks of eyes stared down before him, coming from the sound of gears grinding each other, slowly approaching towards the trembling student, as it approaches him, a heartless visage of an _iron maiden_ was glaring down at him.

"... Well, this complicates things."

*WHRRR*

A _javelin of light_ then forms in its metal hand as this clockwork abomination as it then tried to stake it down towards Byron.

*CRASH*

* * *

**_To Be Continued..._**

* * *

**Author's Notes: **4 months of absence, I was writing other fics.

That and well, I was busy playing Isle of Armor for my Pokemon Sword, and inspiration for how to proceed with this fic was kinda stuck in a bottleneck until now-ish.

Now all I have to do is to is make sure that I add this to my monthly quota during my second year in college, so yeah. That, and well, if I can't buy the Cindered Shadows DLC, then might as well watch the Let's Play on it as research for this fic's background. If any of you want to help me with background, hit me up on my PM while I work on the other fics that seem to be getting more traffic than this.

... As I might've mentioned, this is gonna be a once-in-a-blue-moon upload per chapter.

With that, what do you think of the fact that the Dustbin students, the professor, and their would-be assailants are now all trapped inside the friggin' _Abyss_?

Please leave a comment or a review, for I'd like to know what my audience is thinking!


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